Americorps Epilogue I: Colorado

Back in colorful Colorado!  Since being replaced in Joplin, I made a trip home to Spokane for some 3-on-3 basketball, and then returned to Colorado to wrap up my service year with some camping and conservation.  We’ve spent the last two weeks split between work at Mt Evans and work in the San Luis Valley. 

We started out at Mt. Evans, quarrying rocks to be used in rock steps along the trail to the summit.  It was gorgeous up there.  Mt. Evans is one of Colorado’s 14,000 ft peaks, and the views were pretty spectacular.

That weekend, my old Spokane buddy Sean Wolf joined us for some camping and for the hike to the summit. 

After Mt. Evans, we headed south, to the San Luis valley where we built barbed wire fence and did some invasive plant removal (fancy talk for weeding).  We also paid a visit to Great Sand Dunes national park:

We spent one night hiking from our campsite to an abandoned mine (dubbed the “glory hole”).  There we witnessed the outflight of some 250,000 bats (dubbed “night prowlers”).  The outflight lasts 25 minutes at dusk, during which time we used every Batman quote we could think of. 

I am the night! 

Tomorrow and throughout next week, we’re back at Mt. Evans, putting the rocks we quarried to use in the trail, and next Thursday is our LAST DAY OF WORK.  We do have another week or so of wrap-up before they release us into the wild.  Like Free Willy being released into the ocean.  Or like a colony of “night prowlers” being released from the “glory hole.”  As for me, I will be returning home to Washington to resume my duties as a stay-at-home son.  Those tortilla chips won’t eat themselves, mom and dad!  Two weeks left!!!

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 4

Farewell Joplin!  My team got about five days notice that we were leaving Missouri and being replaced by a new group.  Initially, I was pretty upset to be leaving with so much work left to be done, but each passing day makes me realize how tired I am.  We’ve been here for a month and we’ve had a total of two days off, so it’s probably for the best.  Our last work day was Monday, and we’re set to leave tomorrow. 

The past week or so, the volunteer numbers have begun to take a noticeable dip.  On the first Saturday after the Tornado, we had 3200 volunteers (chaos, considering they were being led in the field by only 100 or so of us).  This last week our numbers have hovered right around 200 a day.  It is a month after the storm now, and this decline is understandable, but frustrating all the same.

To keep the cleanup effort moving forward with fewer numbers in the field, we have started to take volunteers with heavy machinery.  I led a couple guys this week who brought tractors, and we also had a bunch of skid steers and a bulldozer.  With one tractor and two guys, we cleared three giant trees out of a back yard; a task that would have taken all day with a 40 person crew.  With 40 person crews becoming harder and harder to come by, it’s good to have the machinery to turn to.

Since we got here, alot has happened, and there is a marked difference driving through town now versus when we first arrived. I mentioned last week how nice it has been to see lawns and gardens poking through the debris.  This week I saw a more tangible sign of progress.  One guy we had helped last week has started to build his house back, and the freshly framed walls really stand out against the backdrop of the city.  

Like I mentioned at the top, our time here in Joplin is about up, and soon we’ll be back in Colorado.  We have a few off days before returning to the trail building that we had been expecting for this project.  It’s bound to be a comedown after the surreal experience that we’ve had here in Joplin, but I’m grateful that we got to come here at all, especially during such a crazy stage of the response.  Good Luck Joplin!

((Happy 20th Birthday Tyler!))

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 3

Lots of little changes this week. We moved twice, first to a church, and then to a high school outside of town.  Our new digs are pretty nice.  We’re still on cots in one big room, but we have wi-fi, cable, and a gym to use.  Also we have a kitchen, so we’ve started eating real food.  Up until now, we haven’t done any grocery shopping, instead relying on donated food and whatever people on the street are giving out.  That means hot dogs.  We were eating 3- 6 hot dogs a day, so the kitchen at the high school is a great change.  I was beginning to forget what vegetables looked like.

I’ve been hearing stories of the looting more and more lately.  One woman I met yesterday told me that the storm killed her husband. When she walked outside for help and saw what had happened to her house and neighborhood, she started to vomit and had a heart attack.  She was rushed to the hospital, and spent two days recovering.  During those two days, looters raided her house and took everything that the storm had left behind.  Fucking hyenas.  Now that we’re three weeks past the storm, looting isn’t as rampant, but every day we come across metal scavengers.  The volunteers we lead move metal to the curb, and people drive the streets picking pieces of copper and steel from those piles to sell.   It’s not illegal, but it makes me grind my teeth all the same. 

On a less acidic note, it has been great this week to see more grass.  The storm covered yards and parks with shingles, sheetrock and insulation.  One woman called it shitty-maché.  As you can kinda see from this satellite photo, the whole debris field was a big beige mess.

As the cleanup has progressed, we are starting to see more and more of what was buried beneath; green instead of brown.   Working in such a huge debris field can feel a little inconsequential, so its great to feel like we’re getting closer.  

Happy birthday mom! Happy (early) birthday dad!

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 2

Another busy week in Joplin.  We’re still working long hours in the field clearing debris, but we’re getting a little better at it.

I spent the better part of this week bucking trees and clearing debris.  Well, watching volunteers do these things.  Every day is a frantic mess, but I really love the job.  I’m constantly running around; making sure we have enough work and water for all the volunteers.  I get to spend my time in between shooting the shit and talking to volunteers about their connections to the city.  It rules.

The volunteers are great and there has been a ton of them so far.  We’ve processed 15,000 volunteers in the two weeks since the storm, and there are lots of folks who don’t register and drive the streets handing out food and water.  It has been powerful to see the wave of support for the town.  We had 3000 volunteers last Saturday, which was overwhelming for the 100 of us who were leading them, but too much help is a great problem to have. 

All this positivity has been great, and surprising considering where we're working.  It's tragic to be clearing yards, finding waterlogged photo albums, shattered electronics and destroyed books.  So many things that were once so important and sentimental are now lost among a six mile trash pile.  Somebody told me the other day that there is more debris in Joplin than there was in New York after 9/11.  Difference is, all the debris here came from homes and schools, not offices.  The positivity here has been crucial.

I spent a couple days this week away from field work, doing search and rescue.  Going in, I was terrified.  In my head, that meant finding dead things and resuscitating pets with CPR.  In reality, we were investigating smells. S&R had already completed three complete searches of the tornado zone and I was leading groups in a fourth.  We walked up and down every street and alleyway in our zone, sniffin’ at stuff.  All we found were a couple dead cats and a bunch of rancid food.  Lots of fridges and freezers had been disconnected, and after a week of hot humid weather, any left behind chicken or hamburger starts to smell really putrid.  

Until next time…

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 1

To quote Bad Boys II: Shit just got real.  We got rerouted to Joplin Missouri to help with the relief and cleanup efforts here, and it’s been quite a week. 

((Sunday)):

Sunday night, Joplin Missouri was hit with one of the most devastating tornadoes to date.  The storm ravaged the town, leaving a six-mile long pile of debris where there were once houses and schools.  8000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.  At least 136 people were killed (44 are still missing) making it the deadliest tornado in well over 60 years. 

((Monday)):

We left Denver early, still destined for Saint Louis.  Somewhere in Kansas, we got the call that we were going to Joplin instead.  We stayed that night in Lawrence Kansas and caught up on news from the storm.  The extent of the destruction was horrifying and it was a little intimidating to know that we would be there the following day.

((Tuesday)):

We arrived in Joplin in the morning.  Some 36 hours had passed since the storm had hit, and the volunteer center and the Red Cross shelter were swamped.  I spent Tuesday working at the shelter and at a nearby donation center.  The donation center shut down around five for another tornado warning.  All the residents staying in the shelter were moved into the basement, and we spent the evening in the basement of the volunteer center, waiting out the storm.  Quite a Missouri welcome.

((Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)):

Wednesday was the first day I actually saw the fallout from the tornado.  The pictures coming out of the city are harrowing, to be sure, but they really don’t capture the scope of it all.  Cars were flipped over, trees were pulled out of the ground, houses were ripped to shreds, and all that stuff was visible as far as you could see.  The wreckage goes on for miles and miles.  Even outside of the worst stretches of it, lots of homes were hit by falling trees.  It’s amazing what 200 mile per hour winds can do.

I got moved to the field on Wednesday, and I spent the rest of the week there leading groups of volunteers clearing debris.  We were working on the fringes of the tornado’s path, cutting up fallen trees and moving slash and debris to the street for the city to pick up.

Working with the volunteers has been awesome.  I led with one other Americorps employee, and we had anywhere from 40 to 90 volunteers at our disposal.  The homeowners were very grateful and it was great to see how empowered the volunteers felt to be helping out.  With a workforce that size, it was a little stressful keeping them all busy and keeping them organized, but at the end of every day, we had accomplished a ton, and we heard some amazing stories from the homeowners and volunteers.

The days were long (14- 17 hrs of work), but they were affirming too. Without a doubt, this has been one of the most intense weeks of my life.

Joplin got hit real bad, and they are going to need lots more help for years to come.  Here’s a link if you would like to donate and help the red cross meet their immediate needs: 

http://www.redcross-ozarks.org/joplin/

Thanks!

Missouri Disaster Relief, Prologue

Alright, change of plans.  Last time I wrote on here, we were preparing for a fourth round project in Boulder Colorado, full of trailbuilding, concerts, and leisure.  Since then, the middley parts of our country got hit with a record number of tornadoes, with over 900 in the month of April.  On April 27^th alone, there were 164, killing nearly 300 people.  In light of all that tragedy, NCCC is sending a bunch of teams (including ours) to the front lines of the devastation in Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri.  Oh, and the Mississippi River is flooding.  There’s that too.  It’s a disaster, wrapped in a calamity, nestled in a box of shitty shit.  Boulder can wait.

This coming Monday, we head to St. Louis to clear debris and work at a call center.  We’ll be sleeping on cots, working twelve hour days (or longer), six days a week.  It’s bound to be the most difficult, horrible, and intense part of this year, but I’m really happy to be going.  Boulder doesn’t really need our help, but St. Louis really does. That's why we're here in the first place- to help- and I'm eager to do what I can.  Plus, they have that big archy thing there, which is neat.

I’m a little short on pictures (and levity) this week, so I’ll end with a few postcards. 

According to the back of this postcard, this whale is a waterpark along Route 66.  Bring your own slide.  And your own fun.  (Thanks Katie V and Patrick Q)

Thanks to Erika Whittaker for this one.  Another purrr-fect day at the meow-ntain.  I hope he wore a warm cat pelt.

Finally, thanks to Jess Kaari for this siren.  Apparently I went to all the wrong places when I was in Arizona.

More soon. On to St. Louis!

Arizona ACE, Epilogue

We got back from Lake Mead today and we're headed to Colorado Friday.  It was another great hitch.  Just like last time, we were putting in barbed wire fence and camping right near the lake.  Unlike last time, we ran over a 12 foot Joshua Tree with our truck.  Variety is the very spice of life.  Time to pack!

Our time in Arizona has been pretty spectacular. Ever since we got here, I was reminded of an old Louis L’Amour book that my college roommate Hans loaned me.  So I read another one last week.  Here are some pictures from our time in Arizona, all captioned with quotes from “Kilkenny” by Louis L’Amour.  Louis is way more eloquent than I am. And badass.

((ARCHES NATIONAL PARK))

To the high valleys then, came a lone rider, a man who rode with the caution born of riding long on strange trails in a land untamed and restless with danger

It was a desolate land, a jumbled heap of uptilted, broken ledges, enormous basins, knife-like, serrated ridges and toppling towers of sandstone.  The sun climbed and grew hot, weirdly eroded sandstone danced like demons in the heat-waved air

((HITCH 1: HACK CANYON))

Although he appreciated the towns and the comforts they offered, he had grown accustomed to living in the wilds and could do it.

It was slow, bitterly hard work, but he enjoyed it.  There was no sight or sound of anything man had done but what he did with his own hands.

All three were unshaven and had obviously been riding hard and long for they had that lean, hungry look of men off the trail.

((GRAND CANYON))

His face went white and he felt his breath go out of him.  Swiftly he glanced right and left.  On either side were the broken but unscalable walls of the canyon and behind him for more than a mile were the same canyon walls.

The scene was shocking in its majesty, breathtaking in its power

((HITCHES 2 & 3: LAKE MEAD))

He got to his feet, running his fingers through his dark hair which was all awry.  He must look like hell.  Needing a shave, tired, red-eyed and hair all on end.  He wondered aloud, how could a woman ever love such a man?

“Trouble?” The fellow looked up through eyes squinted with pain.  “I got trouble.”

Yes. Here he would stop. Here he would cease being the restless drifter he had become, a man fleeing from a reputation, fleeing from the reputation of a killer.  But in this place he would stay, and he would find peace... if they let him