We're Back......!

Well, we're back in the Mississippi Delta, most of us that is, we have a second car coming down tonight. We left Sheil early yesterday and arrived here in Tutwiler 12 hours later. For those of you who are unfamiliar with our annual Habitat trip I'll give you a little back ground.  This is the 12th year that Sheil has sent a group of Associates to Tutwiler headed by our fearless leaders Mike and Nicole Perry. Tutwiler is a small town of about 1,300 people. You can look it up on a map but basically we're 90 miles south of Memphis in northwestern MS.

We drove through some pretty intense storms but they were brief and followed by beautiful skies.  Once we got out of Chicago and into the rural farms of central Illinois it seemed that we all took a deep breath and moved from where we were coming from into where we were going. Back to green fields, magnolia trees, and small streams along the roadside.  At one pit stop we got out of the car and knew we were in the south. The humidity just sort of stuck to you, not a problem for brief periods but intense out on our worksite!

Sunday is a day off for us before we get down to work tomorrow. We started off this morning with a huge breakfast prepared by Dino and Dave and then headed out to church. In these early days whenever we go anywhere by car it is like herding cats! We always cause a bit of a stir when we go to St. Elizabeth's. Eleven newcomers at one mass tend to stand out! After church we split off with some going back to the dorm and some of us heading over to Indianola to visit the B.B. King museum. The museum was wonderful and filled with music! In tribute to B.B.'s recent death there were flowers both by the door and in the reception area. So glad we went...truly a legend.

Dinner is ready so I'm going to sign off. Tonight we are having Thai green curry prepared by our chef in residence Andy Thomas! Word is that breakfast is at 7:00, devotion at 7:45, and then onto the worksite!  More tomorrow....

Loading up!

We always bring a ridiculous amount of things! This year we were hauling a couch so we squeezed in some of our luggage.

We arrived to find a rain soaked driveway and did our best to keep the mud outside!

Breakfast!

St. Elizabeth's

The B.B. King Museum adorned with a black bow.