Today, the weather changed to cool and crisp while the opportunities to serve remained. We cleared fallen trees at two different houses, one of which belonged to a mass-feeding volunteer and another to a family who had just moved to Florida from Arizona.
Today’s work was satisfying. The cooler temperatures helped, but this was amplified by the team continuing to gel.
The path to our day’s work starts with the behind-the-scenes admin. The Incident Management Team (IMT) of the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief organization for Pensacola, based at Hillcrest Baptist Church with us, had collected the needs for the community, created work orders for each project, and assigned them to teams. At each of our assigned homes, Marcel assessed the downed trees with the home owner and then briefed the team. He might assign roles, either to manage risk or give people opportunities to learn, or just describe the work and people would get on with it. Prior training is required for most tasks, but as each job is so different, the real skill and safety awareness is built up on the job. The working together worked very well and everyone fit into whatever role came their way.
This morning, at our first assigned house, I was assigned as the ground sawyern while a couple of others climbed and two more ran pole saws to cut overhead stuff from the ground. Under Jack’s wise guidance, which frequently included “slow down and take a breath”, I helped clear a big mess before cutting some large limbs with the 25-in saw. The main trunk, which we measured as 26-in diameter, was finished off by Greg, another less experienced sawyer, with the 36-in saw. A spontaneous team led by Charlie took the mini skid steer to help another team was needed help with their stuck skid steer.
We finished before lunchtime so moved to our next location. Even this was a challenge as the two-way streets had been made so narrow by debris and work vehicles that they were uncontrolled one-way streets with barely enough room for the skid steer trailer. On arrival, we enjoyed the packed lunches that we had fixed at breakfast. We sat in the shade and made the most of the cool breeze which helped create the perfect temperature after a chilly start which had forced an emergency trip to Walmart to buy some warmer clothes! After Marcel assessed the work with the homeowner, he reviewed the work with the team and was open about who did what. One of the roles was the “spotter” for Marcel in the skid steer. I felt called to this, and saw value in using our helmet radios. This allowed me to test the new radio connector that I had installed in my helmet. The majority of the work was skid steer hauling which kept me busy, with a bit of pole saw work added on. Being on the radio was surprisingly peaceful, as there was little talk on the three radios and I kept my ear mufflers on. A paid crew were working next door with no protective equipment, and I even saw one guy working barefoot and shirtless, which made me even more thankful for the safety approaches of my team.
The day ended with hugs given to and taken from Mellow, the family’s dog, and a trip to Sweet Frog Frozen Yoghurt. Once back at the church, a group of the team even helped clear the parking lot of some hanging branches, making it safe for the church’s first worship service since the storm the following morning.
On our fourth day of working, I thought I’d share a thought about each of the other team members – though the thoughts are not very inspired when I am this tired!
In no particular order…
- Jack – the quiet wise mentor, who knows to conserve energy.
- Todd – Spider-Man. He can also tow.
- Derek – the trailer backing king.
- Burnzy – wears grammar pants, filling an essential role for this blog! Treat his equipment well.
- Sheri – way too joyful, especially first thing in the morning at breakfast.
- Leslie – has found her vocation as a DR Chaplain. People say I have an accent! 😎
- Old Steve – the forester with the boot dryer, who can also hold up a phone cable.
- Hammer – lots of of stories and our navigator.
- Matt – always teaching or photographing, including the best photo in this blog!
- Dave and Charlie – a pair of AA energizers. They never stop working!
- Dave shouts in his sleep, supposedly wrestling gators. This makes 4 am interesting for the rest of us!
- Charlie, aka Scoop from “Bob the Builder”
- Robert – experienced sawyer but new to this team, but not new to Sweet Frog Frozen Yoghurt 😄.
- Greg – enjoying his first cuts as a new chain sawyer.
- Marcel – conquered the digital work order, which was a good thing or we would have all gone home. Could have been a tank driver.
- Dyson – the skid steer greaser
- Peter – now regrets setting the expectation of the nightly blog
What is humbling is that these people have chosen to dedicate their retirement to serving others through this ministry.
At the end of each day, we returned to base for a hot shower, laundry, and dinner. Marcel completed his paperwork, while many were already asleep even before lights went out at 9pm, ready for the following day’s lights on at 6am.
What looks different? Everyone was wearing a warm jacket!
Thanks to Greg for the photo!
Today emphasized how each team member plays their part. I can drag limbs and run a saw, but I’m not climbing or driving the skid steers. I can’t talk like some members of the team, but I can write this blog! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it.
