Hello dear friends,
As day 5 begins (I think - kind of hard to keep track of what day it is here) I
thought I would pass on a little more news from Joplin.
Charity groups have set up all over town and are providing help to many
thousands of needy people. Restaurants like Pizza Hut have these huge mobile
kitchens giving out free hot food. Every church in town that is still standing
is doing to same thing, and also giving out groceries and toiletries and
diapers and that sort of thing. Through most of this week my wife and kids have
stayed at Grandma's (20 miles away) while I've been hanging around my house
continuing to sort through the rubble and working with insurance adjustors and
the like. I've been having lunch at church every day, and yesterday's lunch
included a special treat, Girl Scout Cookies! The local council stopped by and
dropped off a few cases. Little things like this are a HUGE morale booster, let
me tell you.
The flood of donations all over town has been overwhelming. Duracell has a
mobile unit that will charge up any type of electronic device anyone brings to
them. Tide has a program called Loads of Hope that is doing laundry. Medical
groups have emergency first aid stations everywhere. Twice this week I have
stepped on nails, I suppose I really should go get a tetanus shot. Wouldn't
want them to have to erect a statue of me slumpin' as I breathed my last.
A local group of radio stations have been broadcasting helpful information
around the clock. They've temporarily stopped the country music (which I
dislike anyway) and talk radio programs (I don't like most of those either) and
are now taking phone calls and giving out info. Someone will call with a
question like "where can I get a [--whatever they need--]" and a few minutes
later someone else will call in and say "tell me where you are and I will bring
it to you in half an hour." Someone else might call in to say they found a lost
beagle at 15th and Main, or to say something like "I'm driving to Kansas City
tomorrow, does anybody need a ride?" and things of that nature. This has been a
huge blessing. Without modern communication this nightmare would have been far,
far, worse. Of course nobody has electricity or phone service, but cell phone
calls have been getting through, not very well for the first day or two, but it
is much better now. Text messaging
and email have worked fine the whole time, this is what most folks have been
using. Back in Mayberry Sarah did a great job at the switchboard, but I prefer
my BlackBerry today.
The air all over the disaster zone is alive with the hum of chain saws as
workers are clearing debris away from the houses that are still standing. Most
of the roads were cleared within 24 hours, but there are tens of thousands of
downed trees everywhere. A crew of two guys came to my house yesterday and
worked for several hours, and that was just to clear away the trees that were
touching the structures. I probably forgot to mention earlier that there is a
second smaller house on my property, it belongs to my aunt who lives in a care
facility a few miles north of the damaged area (she's fine - probably doesn't
even know there was a tornado) and we rent her house to two young women, both
of whom are also fine. Many friends are volunteering to bring their own saws
and help, however this first job required professionals. The rest of my yard
can wait a while. It is hard to find any gasoline in Joplin, but most of the
tree crews in town came from
"somewhere's else" and of course they bring cans full of gas with them.
Anybody need any firewood? There's enough for seven winters.
Today we will be heading up to Maryville, MO, in the northwest corner of the
state near the Iowa state line, where our son Taylor is graduating from college
at age 17 (he takes after me a good bit). We're so proud of him! I was able to
get a new suit yesterday, my others were so soaked and muddy that I didn't even
try to get them cleaned. It will be nice to get away from Joplin for two days.
We have also found a new place to live! Our insurance company has really gone
to bat for us, we were amazed they could find a place so quickly when there are
so many other families looking. If anyone should like to send a card or
anything, the address is 4005 LaQuesta Drive unit A, Neosho MO 64850. Don't
send anything just yet though, it will probably be about a week before we
actually move in. I've no idea when (if ever) we might receive any of the mail
that was sent to the old house. I guess it's all piling up at some post office
warehouse for now. The twins' birthday is next week and relatives have probably
been sending them stuff but who knows if we'll ever get it. Many folks also
sent Taylor graduation cards before the tornado and we had been stacking them
up in his room, but they're all gone now.
I guess I'd better go now. One last thing, if anyone should like to help
financially (I m
