been on vacation...it's a beautiful thing!

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.--Leonardo Da Vinci

new favorite Jack Lewis quote

We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. C. S. Lewis, 1898-1963

day 1 flood pics

flood clean up pics

whew...i am pooped!

It's been just a little over two weeks since the flood, and we have been consumed -- can that word be used in a positive context?, because that is how i inteneded it. We have been consumed with the people and the stories and the grieving and the work going on here in flood clean-up in Conklin. The experience is none like any other in my life and I feel renewed and exhausted all at the same time.
and....
i have no other words....

ps. i realize for those of you who do not live nearby that i haven't made clear that my home is DRY...we are so thankful!

there are no words...

i am unable to piece words together in a fashion that comes to close to the reality of what i've seen and touched and smelled this week....

flood waters brown and thick with garbage and waste
sepia-colored stench
numb and sweaty faces of people whose
lives are piled in rotting mounds on muddy grass
and yet,
very few tears
(maybe there is no liquid left to cry)