Corpus Christi

It’s been a busy week here in Corpus Christi. I’m on a Habitat build with 18 other Care-A-Vanners. We started with nothing more than a concrete slab and now have all the interior walls, outside plywood and the roof joists up. We’ve been working with a group of about 20 high school kids from the Baltimore area. Several in my group have only been working partial days since there are so many of us.

I really do like working with the kids. Usually if I find something to do and notice one of them standing around, I’ll show them what I’m doing and move on. They really want to work and I want them to have a good experience so they continue to volunteer. The first day on the build, one of the kids came to me with an injury. She hit her thumb with a hammer. Luckily she missed her nail and just had a nice cut. I had a first aid kit and patched her up. The kids can’t use power tools, so I spent a lot of time on the power saw. I think that’s all I did on Friday, I was covered in saw dust.

The first few days here were really windy, but that seems to have disappeared and now it’s just still and muggy. When you go outside in the morning, everything is wet. Some mornings you can actually feel mist in the air. It’s not that hot, but everyone has their air on instead of open windows because everything gets so wet. The job site has no shade, so the wives chase their husbands around with sun screen. Even I used it on Friday the sun was so bright. We’ve been eating pretty well, a local church fed us 3 days, 1 day our group leader’s niece brought us lunch from her church and 1 day we had lunch provided by Schlotzsky. The group I’m with is really fun, every day we meet in the RV park for happy hour. Someone usually brings food to snack on. Twice one of the wives stayed home and cooked.  I like working for food! 

The Habitat office in Tennessee let me know they got approval for an AmeriCorp volunteer starting in Sept. I loved working with them, the position would be an assistant to the construction supervisor. The drawback is that its 40 hours a week for 10 months. I don’t really want a full time job, I would rather volunteer and set my own schedule. Eventually I’ll have to go back to work, but not right now. I’ll wait till the winter and find a temp job.

Today I’m going for a bike ride around South Padre Island. Apparently even though we're on the coast, there's no scuba diving nearby. The water is too shallow and murky. One of my neighbors has been kayaking and she and her friend bottomed out on one trip, puncturing the inflatable kayak. I should have asked her how they got back

I’ve been listening to the Hunger Games on audio book as I drive.  I’m about ½ way through the last book. The job site is about 30 min away. In the mornings I drive by myself, but in the afternoon, anyone else cutting out early will often ride back with me.  It’s not that I don’t want them to ride with me, or don’t enjoy their company, but man I sure do miss hearing what happens next.  It’s a really good book, sometime I take the long way just to have more time to listen!   I’ll have to find something just as riveting before I head back to LA next week. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut and Rhode Island

I spent a week in East Hampton Connecticut and counted Rhode Island on my map of places I’ve been since it was such a small state and so close.   It didn’t make sense to switch campgrounds.   For such small states, both sure had lots of green space.   I found a great hiking trail very near the campground and decided to take little Beefcake along for the ride.   I have a pouch that hangs in front of me so he can see where he’s going.   I can’t believe how much he loves riding in it.   I thought he settled down and just went to sleep, but people tell me his eyes are wide open and he’s looking around.   There was supposed to be a waterfall that according to the guide was worth leaving the trail for.   Well, I left the trail and crossed several streams before the trail disappeared with no waterfall to be found.   I did see a really cool owl though.   It was sitting in a tree right by the trail and was pretty tolerant of me standing there taking pictures of it. I took a little day tr
Read more

Tennessee Nov 2020 to June 2022

Image
  The move to Tennessee went smoothly. It was quite a shock walking into my house after 20 years. Throughout that time, I had done a home inspection every year and thought the house was well cared for. Although structurally it was, I was shocked at how dumpy it looked. The interior was dark and dated, but outside was even worse, with the siding a mismatch of fiber cement and hardie board, painted two different shades of yellow. The bushes were overgrown and the whole place just looked ill kept. I could tell I had my work cut out for me. The first thing I wanted to do was enclosed my screened in porch. When I bought the house 20 years ago, it was with the intent of turning it into a giant sunroom full of plants and aquariums. I have pictured it in my head for years. I will say the finished project far exceeded my vision and I couldn’t have been happier. I initially wanted to put in a new kitchen, redo both bathrooms (one with a walk-in shower) replace all the doors in the house as wel
Read more

Life and Death June to Nov 2020

Image
  June 2020 - My first stop was Skidway Island State Park, near Savannah Georgia.  It’s a beautiful park, with plenty of trees and very large shady campsites.  I stayed a week, mostly hanging out in the park.  I hung a bird feeder and attracted a wide variety of birds to my site.  It was quite enjoyable just hanging out watching them.  There were plenty of trails and the park was only about half full.  I did venture to nearby Wormsloe Historic site.  It features the ruins of a colonial estate, and a few trails, but mainly its known for the beautiful tree lined drive.  The entrance road goes under a canopy of live oak trees with Spanish moss draped all over the overhead branches. It was almost like a living tunnel. I also ventured into Savannah, which is known for its beautiful parks all over the city.  I mostly just walked around, starting near the waterfront area, with its busy bars and restaurants.  When I noticed most people on the crowded streets and businesses weren't wearing
Read more