We're back.

No pictures and no art this time. We spent a week on the coast working with the greatest couple whose house was flooded in the storm. They've been living in a dinky little FEMA trailer in their driveway for the last 10 months, and yet they have a better attitude than people who were back in their house in a matter of weeks. We spent ONE day working with a woman and her brother who did nothing but stand around and complain about what we were doing and how we were doing it. The 4 days we spent with Jackie and Lynn were MUCH more pleasant. Since the rest of the group was from MO and IL, we took some down-time in the evenings and I think the trip up to Three Rivers was probably the most relaxing time I've spent in years. We did the sight-seeing trip up and down the coast and through the worst parts of the Bay and the Pass, all the way over to Waveland. You'll have to go look up pictures of that on your own since I seem to be incapable of describing it, and I still can't bring myself to even get the pictures off my camera yet. One day I hope to be numb? immune? enough to think about it without crying. My youngest daughter was with us and she has trouble dealing with it all too. I still haven't taken her out to the Kiln to show her my grandmother's house yet. Our solution was just to work so hard during the day we wore ourselves out and didn't have time to think about anything. My uncle did a shrimp boil for us in the driveway one night, and the feeling of family and history and memories was SO strong. I can't begin to remember how many times in the last 40 years we have sat right there eating shrimp and laughing and telling stories. I'm very grateful I could share that with my friends. My biggest regret is that they didn't see the coast as it was before.