Hello All!
The gods of home building shone in our favor this afternoon, as we were given interesting tasks and fair weather. I felt lucky to have the opportunity to come out to the work this morning in the cool morning air with the sun shining. We rolled off to our work site with the windows rolled down. The air rolled through the van gently and prepared us our day of work. I believe that it did a better job of waking us up than a cup of coffee could ever do. Bill, the site manager, greeted us warmly from the second story of our house in progress with a slow wave. He was putting the finishing details on the upstairs bedrooms.
After a brief run down we were broken up into groups and sent on our way. I tried to mix it up a bit today and went with a new group. I think that it is good to get to know new members of the group every day, and there is no better chance to get to know your fellow partner than by working side by side with them doing hard manual labor. I spent the afternoon water proofing the crawl space of a future home. It sounds about as dirty as you would imagine it to be.
Waterproofing the walls on the Habitat House
We were able to sloppily apply several layers of latex waterproofing paint to the exterior of the house. It was time-consuming work that ended with us being covered in waterproof paint, which is very hard to get off your body, seeing as a shower has very little effect on the paint. I have spent most of the afternoon gently scraping off paint and the top layer of my skin.
After our day at work, we went over to Jan’s – the Habitat and Thrivent Board President – house. He had a very luxurious and refreshing pool available for the volunteers to relax in. It was a desert oasis in the middle of our grueling workweek. We played pool games, lounged in the sun, and enjoyed the fellowship of the Habitat for Humanity volunteers. The community has been rallying around the Gustavus volunteers and providing entertainment and hospitality towards us every step of the way. Many of the families from Maryville and the church cooked a potluck dinner in our honor. It was simply delectable. I was honored and humbled by their generosity and support.
Enjoying the pool and fellowship
It has been great to cap off my senior year in college with a trip to Tennessee with Habitat for Humanity. I have truly embraced this opportunity to work with other college students in order to work on a common community service project.
In this transitional period of my life, I find that I often reflect on what home means to me, and as I build this home it’s meaning has slowly come to me. In the coming years I hope to be mobile, light, and carefree as I move from job to job and location to location. Home to me means having close friends to share a meal with. I hope to always have this as my journey continues and as my story progresses.
Kind regards,
Joe Carlson ’12