Don't Smell My Boots!

This afternoon we put the tresses on the house. I soon learned that tresses form the skeleton of the roof and they are VERY heavy! You'll see from tonight's pictures that it took a lot of teamwork and a lot of muscle but we got them all up and in place. We  had to carry the tresses from a spot near the road to the house. Remember all the rain we had earlier in the week? Notice the farm across the street? We had to walk through mud that had a distinct country smell. Some people are going to wash their boots and some are just going to throw them out at the end of the trip. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, my wool socks kept my feet dry but my boots are outside airing out. The title for tonight's blog came from Dino who at one particularly squishy moment exclaimed, "Don't smell my boots!"

In addition to pictures from John and myself, a few people have shared some of their reflections.

Enjoy!

More tomorrow...

Casey

We tried to cover the mud with boards.

A big stack of tresses!

We picked up the tress..

Carried it through the stinky mud..

Moved it around other building materials..

Tall people were in the front and short in the back...

And up to the top......

We did this 19 times!!

Before...

After...

Bill

Natalie

This is from last night. Kristin just couldn't make it through the 3rd overtime!

This is a picture from the new house.

This is the same hallway in another house.

Here is a post from Jan which he wrote last night.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

While most of our crew opted to start the week framing the new house, Kathy, Marie and I set off to do some finishing touches on a nearly completed house already designated for Sarah. There was still some trim work to attend to, dings in the drywall to be repaired, and paint splatters that needed to be removed, etc. Small things, but a list that grew the more we looked and which promised to keep us busy for a few days.  Not the glamorous work of the "framers", but important work nonetheless.  (Of note, more and more of the framers are finding reason to help work on Sarah's house.)

That import of our work was made clear to me when Sarah visited her new home on Monday, noting the various glitches as she walked from room to room. I assured her that we'd have the place in good shape before we left.

I shared this observation with Dr. Brooks (aka Sister Anne Brooks, DO) when I visited with her yesterday.  She was quick to point out the significance of what we were doing. We were telling Sarah that she was important, worthy of a nice home, and worthy of our time and effort make sure her home was as nice as we could make it.  That is the philosophy Dr. Brooks and her colleagues brought to Tutwiler some 30 years ago.  It is not enough to attend to a patient's physical ailments if you don't see that they don't have a decent house to live in. That is why they invited Habitat to start building here. Our purpose in coming here is not just to build houses. We build houses that will be homes, homes for people we come to know, people like Sarah.  She deserves the best work we can give her.

Jan Nowak

Here is a post from Dave.

After dark I took a stroll alone along the street past our neighbors' units. I was greeted by a little group and strolled over to say hello. Mum was braiding the hair of Jer'Riya,  her 4 year old daughter, adding glass beads to the braids. “How long does that take, Mom,” I asked. “About 4 hours. She is graduating from Preschool tomorrow and going into kindergarten”.Mom was very proud of this and mentioned that the young boy, D’Quavio was  in an awards ceremony too. I asked each to tell me their names and after several times and much laughter,I had to have mother write them for me. Mother’s name is Timekia and told me she is the sister of De Marco, the young  man I spoke with this morning. I asked to take a picture and Mum asked me to wait till she finished braiding.

I fumbled the camera looking for the flash, she took the camera, found the flash and we took a photo. Mother was so excited she sent it to her mother who was working. Later, Timekia said she is one of 7 sisters and her family has been living in the original Habitat house since1993. Seems Habitat means more than just houses here: pride, respect and the open hospitality of "hello"  to visiting strangers from Habitat.

Here is a post from John

Habitat as a Metaphor for Life

 

​It is amazing to watch a house come together.  When we started this week, one of the houses we are working on was nothing more than a concrete slab with some pipes poking out of it.  By Monday evening, three walls were up.  By Tuesday, the interior walls were up and you could make out where the rooms are.  This afternoon, we put up all the trusses, and the house is clearly recognizable as a house.  Tomorrow we will put up much of the plywood.  At this rate, you would expect the whole house to be up to be done by the end of summer.  You would be wrong.

 

​My first trip here, we put siding on a house and worked on a few other finishing details.  We left knowing that the house would be finished soon.  The next year we returned with our biggest crew ever, twenty-four people, including a contractor. We worked on two houses and put a new roof on the Bargain Barn.  The first house we worked on did not have any windows yet, and looked like a dark cave.  We cut out the windows and tiled the  entire house.  The owners of that house would be moving in soon as well  Meanwhile, the rest of the crew, lead by the contractor, started on the house next door which had  just recently been framed.  Dry wall flew up like magic!  Bill, who used to be a an electrical contractor, and Charlotte, who does theater lighting got started wiring the building.  Surely this one was going to be finished soon as well.  Each year when we return, the houses we worked on in the past look a little bit more like places people live.  They have cars in the driveway, barbecue grills and kids’ bikes on the porch, and other little touches people add to make the houses theirs.  

 

​When we returned last year, the owners of the first house had indeed moved in.  The second house looked pretty much the way it did when we left it.  Of course, some work had been done since we left, but few groups show up in the summer.  It is just too hot to work.  During the rest of the year, most of the groups that come down to work do so during school breaks.  And our group is unusually big, experienced and talented.  We get more done in a week than most groups.  So for much of the year, not a whole lot of progress might be made on a particular house.  Last year, we again worked on two houses.  One was near completion.  The other was a little further behind.  Sarah the future owner dropped in several times to work with us.  

 

Sarah is a school bus driver and came in between shifts.  Owners are required to put in a certain number of hours on either their house or someone else’s, so Sarah was putting in hers.  Sarah was nice and friendly, but a little shy around our group.  That is not surprising.  We can be a little overwhelming. She is back again this year, but now her house is nearing completion.  Sarah is already making plans for decorating, She has bought a garden hose.  She is putting in screens.  She is quietly but clearly excited about the prospect of moving in.  Meanwhile, between Sarah’s house and the one we are framing is one we have not worked on at all.  We will leave it exactly as we found it.  

 

The process of watching a house go up is a bit mysterious.  Visible progress seems to come in fits and starts.  Sometimes it seems that the house is virtually arising before your eyes.  Sometimes it seems nothing is happening at all.  Meanwhile, the future owners look on with varying degrees of anticipation and patience.  What a strange and mysterious process it can be to work for a goal not knowing if and when it will be reached.  

 

One of the things we find ourselves doing this week is cleaning up the mistakes that a previous group left behind.  I expect to spend the next couple of days sanding down and refinishing several of the bedroom doors.  Perhaps it is just my experience in refinishing furniture that makes me think so, but the way they look right now is just not acceptable.  There are visible drips and runs all up and down the doors.  If this was my house, I would notice them every day.  Of course, all the houses we work on have their share of mistakes, and I hope the owners never discover some of mine, but seeing someone like Sarah looking forward to moving in makes it hard for me to be satisfied with anything less than my best efforts.  Perhaps seeing the person on the receiving end makes it easier to carry that attitude into one’s work.  If we could only be able to do that in all we do.