Sounds and Silence and Still More Sound.
I am now attempting to create a post-trip mix of music for us all, including suggestions from as many if us as possible. Even though there was a pre-trip mix to listen to, for the most part on the way to the worksite we instead listened to 95.7 “The Bayou”, specifically a morning show with Walter & Johnson. The morning show personalities refer to your Ford Taurus as a great piece of “American iron” and I must agree. However on the whole, the show is kind of offensive. But the morning commute to the work site was exceptional for another reason. I was able to listen to colorful morning show each morning in a Grande Marquee. Frankly, our Grande Marquee crew will agree (Rob, Tim, Bill) that it’s the finest automobile we’ve ever had the pleasure. The 16-inch wheels, leather interior, no-frills-straight-forward-swerve controls, out-of-this-world-trunk space, it all makes for the ultimate highway and off-road experience.
On another station, Mike Erdlen also informed me that he heard on the radio a Kid Rock song sampling Lynyrd Skynyrd and Warren Zevon heavily in his own song “All Summer Long” (Kid Rock does indeed share writing credits with the late Warren Zevon). Mike also informs me that, ironically, Warren Zevon took offense to the song “Sweet Home Alabama”; specifically he did not agree with Lynyrd Skynyrd calling out Neil Young (IE. “I hope Neil Young can remember, southern man don’t need him around anyhow”). So Warren had called them out in his song “Play It All Night Long”. Good to know. In a few instances we were able to listen to some heavy, live blues music, one of the more notable was a New Orleans bar on the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter Street during lunch before moving on to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and Lagniappe Presbyterian Church where we would stay all week. On another occasion there was a karaoke bar where, in a collaborative effort, perhaps 12 or so of us sang along with Americorps volunteers, kinda like Live Aid in 1985 except on this night everyone was Keith Richards.
While on the work site we usually had a Dewalt radio (which also functionally served to charge the battery for the power tools). Of course, at the start there was no music, only hammers and instruction. Though once everyone got into the swing of things, we had classic rock radio stations playing in the background. On the final day the radio was not working so we had a volunteer’s iPod (Ginger) and a lot of Third Eye Blind and The Beatles, neither of which I am opposed. I spoke with our site leader Ben about who he believes is the best rock song of all-time, and although on Day 2 he said it could be the Smashing Pumpkins “Today”, by Day 3 he had dismissed this and decided that the song had to be by Bob Dylan or in the least it had to pre-date the 90’s. By the last day he had no idea. That’s generally how it works. Personally, I don’t feel the necessity to pre-date 90’s but on the other hand how could I decide the rock song was the greatest of all-time if it wasn’t released in the 60’s... I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
During the evenings, some sat in rocking chairs outside on the Lagniappe porch, some studied, some kept up with their SEI responsibilities, some read or visited with fellow volunteers in the church, still others went out for some local restaurants & nightlife and more often than not to see our Phillies beat LA. On one evening Jud and Ginger had a conversation about Cat Power, on the way to the New Orleans airport Jud and Robb had a conversation about Pandora. I now realize that Judd and I did not have enough conversations about music.
In any case, I worked just as hard as I could each day and all the while I had more fun than I could have ever expected too. There is much I will remember, there is almost nothing I would take away. But the top three sounds while in the Gulf that I would want to record in my head for all-time are as followed and in no particular order:
1) The stories and personalities of the local community, everyone from the restaurant and shop owners to the Wal-mart cashiers to the volunteers had something to say. We listened.
2) Jimmy Rollins hitting the game-winning double off of Broxton in Game 4 and the sound of the entirety of Clyde’s (about 20 SEI volunteers + leather frills, the bartender and a few patrons) yelling and cheering and bringing everyone together for yet another cause.
3) The emotion in the speech Mr. Krankey (home owner) delivered during the dedication for the house we volunteered to help build all week with Habitat For Humanity.
In short, as far as I’m concerned we had a great week. I reflect now in my mind all that we accomplished on the Krankey build, but as I walked from the shuttle to my car in the parking garage I was honestly too drained to think of anything but a hot shower and a queen size bed. When I turned the ignition it was raining and I was a bit depressed as it seemed as though it never had stopped—it was raining when we left Philadelphia and I was again also listening to the mix I made the day before my ride on the turnpike to catch the shuttle to the Philadelphia airport. It just seemed like nothing had changed from a week ago. On Monday I will return to this parking garage and I will no longer be a volunteer in Mississippi. By the end of the year, Stephen, Alia, Tim, Ginger, and most of the volunteers with Americorp will have moved on too. Habitat for Humanity Bay-Waveland will partner with another sponsor though perhaps none as substantial as SEI. As I left the parking garage and turned on my windshield wipers, the confidence I had in the moment of the dedication that our home would stand forever, had been undermined by steady raindrops…
But things had definitely changed and for the better. The Krankey’s now had a home entirely as a result of the efforts of the Habitat For Humanity non-profit organization, the results-driven skills and instruction of Americorp, and finally the SEI volunteers and our friends at Lagniappe. The home we helped build is on beams, well off the ground in concrete foundations, hurricane straps securing each and every beam to the home, with fiber-cement siding and a metal roof. Finally Robin and Sharon sealed any and every nail, screw, or space with caulk for practically three days straight. If it doesn’t stand forever, there will be volunteers that step up to rebuild it again and again and again. It’s certainly worth the time and the effort, it’s worth every mosquito bite, sunburn, sore muscle, and scratchy beard. It was worth it because of the appreciation the home owners showed us, the friendliness of everyone we met, for the principles of what these organizations we worked with stand for. I am extremely satisfied that SEI the company I work for has given us their blessing and that the SEI comunity has afforded us this opportunity. I sincerely thank everyone I mentioned and anyone I missed. I hope that such efforts do not end here.
Love,
Alan
posted by Alan Benson @ 11:30 PM
0 comments
