Friday, March 15, 2019
Update
I'm sorry, I don't think the link went directly to what I wanted it to. If you go to the page, Look for a video called
SIX MONTHS AFTER HURRICANE FLORENCE.
Thanks for reading, friends.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Six Months Later
I haven't added any blog posts lately, but I want to share this half hour special by our local news channel. I hope you'll watch, preferably on your laptop or computer. I know many parts of the country have experienced horrible things due to weather and fire, but this is MY HOME and means so much to me.
It's been six months...
https://wcti12.com/weather/hurricane-extras/newschannel-12-presents-hurricane-florence-the-recovery-continues?fbclid=IwAR25n6iNJJYrmd2cgU3tfEIbpnUFI6ebHo3q7TSYoVz9dfFVXE8duSFPHr8
It's been six months...
https://wcti12.com/weather/hurricane-extras/newschannel-12-presents-hurricane-florence-the-recovery-continues?fbclid=IwAR25n6iNJJYrmd2cgU3tfEIbpnUFI6ebHo3q7TSYoVz9dfFVXE8duSFPHr8
Monday, February 18, 2019
Interesting Article
This is a different kind of blog post for me, but I found this article fascinating and just wanted to share it. Just call it another follow up to Hurricane Florence:
Remember that huge chipping operation across from the Center for Public Safety with the debris from Hurricane Florence.?
Here’s where those chips went. They were part of a hugely successful operation to take care of 4.2 million chickens that were killed in flood waters in eastern NC. In a partnership with FEMA, the chips were used to create a well-regulated composting operation that saved millions in disposal costs for the chickens. Read the story for the details in how the scientists and disposal experts did it.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Life Goes On/Second Spring
Just some thoughts:
*It's been 5 weeks since Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina. The effects of it are still with us, as expected.
*FEMA is still very busy here, as well as Samaritan's Purse and many other ministries.
*Thank God for mosquito spraying!
*The tree that fell on my building 5 weeks ago was finally cut up and taken away yesterday. There's still many areas still waiting for the huge haulers to come and pick up their fallen trees and their spoiled household items. Somewhere I read, it might take until December to complete the job.
*Housing is still an issue for many people who need to get into a safe home while theirs is being repaired. Almost every day I hear of someone who's home was severely damaged and they are living elsewhere. FEMA is bringing in trailers and RV type things.
*Elaina was in need of a new house due to some issues with her rental. It was quite a struggle to find a house she and her son could live in safely, until her chaplain at New River told her about some friends who wanted to offer her one of their new rentals. She moves in this weekend!
*As most of you know, I like to shop in thrift stores, which I did today. Usually you might see 1-3 people shopping in one, but today, at least two of the stores were "hopping" with people shopping for household goods, that presumably they lost during Florence. In one store, a whole family picking up things they need.
*We finally have cooler weather. Our weather had been warm since the hurricane and tricked the trees that had lost leaves in Flo into budding out all over again. We're seeing Spring green in October.
*Onslow County schools have been out since Sept.11. Six weeks! They finally start next week. Some teachers have been creating "Pop up School" at different locations and inviting their classes to come spend a couple of hours together.
*Some festivals I wrote about before have had to be cancelled, but there's still some going on, and planned for this month and November.
*The Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department have a Farewell to Flo event tomorrow. Here's what their FB page says:
*It's been 5 weeks since Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina. The effects of it are still with us, as expected.
*FEMA is still very busy here, as well as Samaritan's Purse and many other ministries.
*Thank God for mosquito spraying!
*The tree that fell on my building 5 weeks ago was finally cut up and taken away yesterday. There's still many areas still waiting for the huge haulers to come and pick up their fallen trees and their spoiled household items. Somewhere I read, it might take until December to complete the job.
*Housing is still an issue for many people who need to get into a safe home while theirs is being repaired. Almost every day I hear of someone who's home was severely damaged and they are living elsewhere. FEMA is bringing in trailers and RV type things.
*Elaina was in need of a new house due to some issues with her rental. It was quite a struggle to find a house she and her son could live in safely, until her chaplain at New River told her about some friends who wanted to offer her one of their new rentals. She moves in this weekend!
*As most of you know, I like to shop in thrift stores, which I did today. Usually you might see 1-3 people shopping in one, but today, at least two of the stores were "hopping" with people shopping for household goods, that presumably they lost during Florence. In one store, a whole family picking up things they need.
*We finally have cooler weather. Our weather had been warm since the hurricane and tricked the trees that had lost leaves in Flo into budding out all over again. We're seeing Spring green in October.
*Onslow County schools have been out since Sept.11. Six weeks! They finally start next week. Some teachers have been creating "Pop up School" at different locations and inviting their classes to come spend a couple of hours together.
*Some festivals I wrote about before have had to be cancelled, but there's still some going on, and planned for this month and November.
*The Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department have a Farewell to Flo event tomorrow. Here's what their FB page says:
Farewell to Flo
Free & Open to the Public
Live music by Push Play
Rock Wall, Hay Rides, Life Sized Pac Man, Glow in the Dark Laser Tag and much more!
We are #JacksonvilleNCStrong
Eastern North Carolina will recover! We are
#jacksonvillencstrong
#onslowcountystrong
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Post Hurricane Florence
Just sharing a few thoughts on the affects of the worst hurricane in Eastern North Carolina since 1954.
***It's hard to believe, but some people just got their power back on yesterday.
*** This is a very common site even still. (Saw this house in person today)
***There are huge black trucks with a crane, picking up fallen trees like the one above. Seems like every time we turn a corner, there's one of these trucks. On some streets they need to stop at every house!
***It's hard to believe, but some people just got their power back on yesterday.
*** This is a very common site even still. (Saw this house in person today)
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| If you look at the left side of this house, it has been caved in by that tree. |
***There are huge black trucks with a crane, picking up fallen trees like the one above. Seems like every time we turn a corner, there's one of these trucks. On some streets they need to stop at every house!
***This is where these trucks take the trees to be ground into sawdust
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| Can't tell by this, but the mound is huge and growing. It's spread over a large area. Downtown Jacksonville |
***ENC is so wooded, that in spring and summer it's very green and thick with leaves, so that in some places you can't see through the trees (ha ha). But in the late fall and winter, so many leaves fall that the woods look more sparse and the trees are bare. After this hurricane, the woods everywhere look like winter! The kudzu is just bare vines and the trees are stripped. Driving through Camp Lejeune today with Elaina, it looked like a giant had walked through each wooded area and grabbed handfuls of vegetation and dragged it along as he stormed through the woods. I guess I should call the giant, Flo and not "a him." There were 350 homes on base alone, that were damaged by Flo.
***There were reports of several tornadoes that hit during the storm. We have seen so many fields of trees snapped in half, all facing the same direction. I heard someone say that the principal at White Oak HS (had the most severe damage of our schools) was at the school during the hurricane and he believes it was hit by a tornado.
***Schools in Onslow County are still out next week. There's so much damage and/or mold issues. That's over three weeks that kids have missed out on school. The state school authorities are making a decision on make-up weeks, or not. Our church has two campuses; one location is one of the local high schools. They can't meet there for church for a while, so central campus will be full!
***The Kentucky Baptist Disaster team has been continuing providing food for the Red Cross to take food out to different areas. I helped serve lunch one day last week when people were still coming in droves through the parking lot to pick up hot food. My church continues to open their center for provisions for people who need it. My plans is to volunteer there next weekend.
***The mosquitoes are relentless. They are huge and vicious. I didn't have one bite all summer, until after the hurricane! I'm also allergic to their saliva (according to google) and where they bite becomes a big, swollen welt that actually hurts. Why do they even exist?
***This has been a life-changing event for so many people. I'm so grateful that we were safe and came home to our homes, safe and sound.
***The mosquitoes are relentless. They are huge and vicious. I didn't have one bite all summer, until after the hurricane! I'm also allergic to their saliva (according to google) and where they bite becomes a big, swollen welt that actually hurts. Why do they even exist?
***This has been a life-changing event for so many people. I'm so grateful that we were safe and came home to our homes, safe and sound.
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Hurricane Florence
This is one of the hardest things I've ever written about. You all know what you've seen on the news about Eastern North Carolina and Hurricane Florence, so I won't bore you with details on categories, and wind strength, etc. But this might be my longest post!
Elaina and I didn't leave for Hurricane Matthew, two years ago. It wasn't much of a threat in our own area and there was no damage very locally to us (Our Lt Governor's home was destroyed by Matthew). However, when we heard Florence was coming, we paid attention. Elaina sat in on meetings with her CO and a Marine meteorologist and got the "official" story on Florence. She was told that Onslow County, where both Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River are located, will be an island. That's when she decided for us, that we would leave. (This was before the mandatory order for evacuation.)
We got a reservation at Twin Mountain Inn in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for 3 nights. Pigeon Forge is not my favorite place. It's like mountain/country version of Disneyland, with lots of traffic. It's the city Dolly Parton built. Literally, I think. We did drive through Smoky Mountain National Park, which is a beautiful place and I would like to go back to someday.
We watched the weather channel constantly and saw what Florence was doing to our home state. We sat and cried and prayed. When it was obvious we weren't going home anytime soon, Elaina searched for another hotel. She found a Hampton Inn in Virginia that was offering a discount to evacuees, so we drove another two hours into Abingdon,Virginia. At the hotel there were several other North Carolina license plates in the parking lot. Elaina met a few fellow ENC's at breakfast each morning, where they talked about what was happening back home, and their plans for returning.
Because we had a very rambunctious 7 year old with us, Elaina took him to Just Jump, a trampoline park in nearby Bristol, a couple of times. Whoever thought up those places is a genius. Your kid sitting in front of the tv or video games all day? Take them to a trampoline park! It will be hard getting them to leave.
We stayed in Virginia until Tuesday morning. Because of all the road and highway closures, it was not a simple task figuring out how to go home. But Elaina trusted what she heard from the base about how to get home. A 7 hour trip took about 10 or 11 hours to get home due to traffic and changes in roads. The last highway we were on, highway 70 in NC, was starting to flood, but we were fine. The bridge hadn't closed at the time we came through. It has since flooded (The Neuse River) and the road was closed. I read today it will continue to be closed for a while longer.
I can't express how hard this has been to watch happening. We were fine and were inconvenienced for a while, but some people have lost everything they had. There's no words for how we hurt for our Eastern North Carolina neighbors.
Once we got home we found that gas is not available everywhere, grocery stores only have minimal items, many, many people still don't have power. ( With road closures, trucks can't get in to deliver.) Stores like Walmart were letting people in 5-10 at a time to shop. Meat and milk was scarce. (Neither of us had any damage to our homes, and even though power was lost during the storm, we both had power when we got home. So, contents of refrigerator? Out to the trash bin.)
Authorities had warned evacuees to come back with cash, groceries bought elsewhere, and a full tank of gas. (My car was left here at home and I was very low on gas. I haven't been able to fill up yet)
Now, the clean up has begun, and the handing out of supplies for those who have lost everything. Our church, Catalyst, is hosting the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief team, where they are feeding thousands of people each day, and also providing supplies like toiletries, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc. Many many churches are doing the same and many businesses are also opening their doors to hand out free items that people need. Some Walmarts are giving out free water and ice in the parking lot. Just come and get what you need! Restaurants are feeding residents and lineman and first responders for free. It's amazing to see people stepping up to help their fellow Eastern Carolinians.
By the way, school has been out since the 11th, and still out another week. So many schools were damaged, and staff have their own homes to deal with. Elaina's 7 yr old's day care was damaged, but they will be open by Monday, thank goodness.
Yes, I love Eastern North Carolina, and maybe even more so now. Thanks for reading. I'm going to try and add some photos.
This will be on-going probably for weeks.
Elaina and I didn't leave for Hurricane Matthew, two years ago. It wasn't much of a threat in our own area and there was no damage very locally to us (Our Lt Governor's home was destroyed by Matthew). However, when we heard Florence was coming, we paid attention. Elaina sat in on meetings with her CO and a Marine meteorologist and got the "official" story on Florence. She was told that Onslow County, where both Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River are located, will be an island. That's when she decided for us, that we would leave. (This was before the mandatory order for evacuation.)
We got a reservation at Twin Mountain Inn in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for 3 nights. Pigeon Forge is not my favorite place. It's like mountain/country version of Disneyland, with lots of traffic. It's the city Dolly Parton built. Literally, I think. We did drive through Smoky Mountain National Park, which is a beautiful place and I would like to go back to someday.
 |
| Smokey Mountain Nat. Park |
 |
| Smokey Mountain National Park |
We watched the weather channel constantly and saw what Florence was doing to our home state. We sat and cried and prayed. When it was obvious we weren't going home anytime soon, Elaina searched for another hotel. She found a Hampton Inn in Virginia that was offering a discount to evacuees, so we drove another two hours into Abingdon,Virginia. At the hotel there were several other North Carolina license plates in the parking lot. Elaina met a few fellow ENC's at breakfast each morning, where they talked about what was happening back home, and their plans for returning.
Because we had a very rambunctious 7 year old with us, Elaina took him to Just Jump, a trampoline park in nearby Bristol, a couple of times. Whoever thought up those places is a genius. Your kid sitting in front of the tv or video games all day? Take them to a trampoline park! It will be hard getting them to leave.
We stayed in Virginia until Tuesday morning. Because of all the road and highway closures, it was not a simple task figuring out how to go home. But Elaina trusted what she heard from the base about how to get home. A 7 hour trip took about 10 or 11 hours to get home due to traffic and changes in roads. The last highway we were on, highway 70 in NC, was starting to flood, but we were fine. The bridge hadn't closed at the time we came through. It has since flooded (The Neuse River) and the road was closed. I read today it will continue to be closed for a while longer.
 |
| The bridge crossing the Neuse on our way home. You can see the water level reaching almost to the bridge |
 |
| One of hundreds of lineman come to help; many from out of state |
 |
| Highway 70 flooding beginning. This is a mail box for a business along side the road |
 |
| This is how ENC's think of Lineman |
The hard part now, is seeing all the devastation here that Florence brought. Trees down in yards and in the woods everywhere. People's homes destroyed either by flood or downed trees. People clearing out their homes and putting their belongings out in front waiting for trash pick up. Sometimes whole streets are lined with home "debris." In Elaina's neighborhood there is a trailer park where one huge tree fell across two trailers and split them both in half. (We're assuming no one was home, but?)
 |
| This scene can be seen all over |
I can't express how hard this has been to watch happening. We were fine and were inconvenienced for a while, but some people have lost everything they had. There's no words for how we hurt for our Eastern North Carolina neighbors. |
| This is an upscale neighborhood but can you imagine what the poor neighborhoods look like? |
Once we got home we found that gas is not available everywhere, grocery stores only have minimal items, many, many people still don't have power. ( With road closures, trucks can't get in to deliver.) Stores like Walmart were letting people in 5-10 at a time to shop. Meat and milk was scarce. (Neither of us had any damage to our homes, and even though power was lost during the storm, we both had power when we got home. So, contents of refrigerator? Out to the trash bin.)
 |
| One tree fell on my building |
 |
| Minor damage to my building |
Authorities had warned evacuees to come back with cash, groceries bought elsewhere, and a full tank of gas. (My car was left here at home and I was very low on gas. I haven't been able to fill up yet)
Now, the clean up has begun, and the handing out of supplies for those who have lost everything. Our church, Catalyst, is hosting the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief team, where they are feeding thousands of people each day, and also providing supplies like toiletries, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc. Many many churches are doing the same and many businesses are also opening their doors to hand out free items that people need. Some Walmarts are giving out free water and ice in the parking lot. Just come and get what you need! Restaurants are feeding residents and lineman and first responders for free. It's amazing to see people stepping up to help their fellow Eastern Carolinians.
By the way, school has been out since the 11th, and still out another week. So many schools were damaged, and staff have their own homes to deal with. Elaina's 7 yr old's day care was damaged, but they will be open by Monday, thank goodness.
Yes, I love Eastern North Carolina, and maybe even more so now. Thanks for reading. I'm going to try and add some photos.
Pray for Eastern North Carolina!
 |
| Catalyst Church Sunday the 23rd |
This will be on-going probably for weeks.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
NC and its Festivals
September is here and I am so ready for Fall! We have had a very hot, humid summer with lots and lots of rain. I know it will be a while before we actually feel FALL weather, but at least we know it's coming!
(I may have written about these things before, but I don't care! It came up tonight...)
I couldn't find anything good to watch on TV tonight, so I settled on The Andy Griffith show. The show was based on Andy's hometown of Mount Airy, NC. This is from Mount Airy's website:
"MOUNTAINS. MUSIC. MAYBERRY. MERLOT. Mayberry RFD icon Andy Griffith grew up in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and it's no coincidence that a stroll down Mount Airy's Main Street reminds people of the town of Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show. In addition to Mayberry RFD and Andy Griffith, visitors find that Mount Airy, North Carolina is a great jumping off point for exploring the Yadkin Valley wine region, the breathtaking Blue Ridge Parkway, the stunning pinnacle of Pilot Mountain, or the twangy sound of bluegrass and old-time music. Whatever your passion, we invite you to step back to a simpler time when you visit Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina—affectionately known as Mayberry RFD."
The city has "Mayberry Days" when the whole town celebrates their Mayberry history, with parades, etc.
 |
| Collards |
While watching the show tonight, there was an ad for another of North Carolina's festivals. This one is in the town of Ayden. Are you ready for it? It's the Collard Festival! There's even a mascot named Colleen Collard.
It has started this week and continues through Sunday. A whole week of celebrating collards and collard greens! We won't be going to this. It's about an hour and a half northwest of us.
.jpg) |
| Colleen Collard |
It makes me smile (and giggle), and I'm not making fun of it; I love it. There's so much agriculture here and people are proud of it and really enjoy celebrating it. Any excuse for a parade and get-together with your neighbors for a party!
Elaina and I went to a strawberry festival in Burgaw once and someday I want to go to the Blueberry Festival. If something is grown here, you can be sure there's a festival for it. There's also none agriculture festivals: Morehead City has a seafood festival, and a chocolate festival. Swansboro has the Mullet festival (a fish) and Pirate Fest. There's Scotish festivals, Lumbee Indian festival, and so on.
I tried to find a single list of NC festivals and there are so many, all other the state, I couldn't find just one list.
Elaina and I have not attended the Jacksonville Christmas parade before, but since she has a 7 year old boy now, I think we'll probably go this year!
I know I've said it many times here, but I love North Carolina and the small town feel almost everywhere, even when the towns are not so small.
Thanks for reading my North Carolina journal!
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
July 10, 2018 Kajukenbo ( no, that's not a typo)
One of our residents here asked a friend of hers to come and give us a self defense class. About seven of us met in the community room to listen, watch and learn techniques from this man.
Our instructor is a sixth degree black belt in Kajukenbo martial arts. It's a mixed martial arts system developed in the 1940's in Hawaii. It's used all over the world now. This instructor learned it in the Marine Corps, thirty years ago.
He said as a young Marine they were always told to run for their PT and Marines in his unit were always 'blowing out' knees from running and stepping in holes or tripping on branches, etc. keeping their readiness level 'unsat' as my daughter would say. He said their CO told them "I don't care if you play badminton for PT, but increase your readiness!!" Anyway, they started this discipline of martial arts.
Here's a link to a Wikipedia page about Kajukenbo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajukenbo
He began like I expected him to: always be aware of your surroundings, notice what other vehicles are around you when you park, park under lights, check all the way around you when you get out of the car, etc. which I already do. The one thing I need to remember is: When leaving somewhere to get to your car, don't unlock your car when you're still at a distance from it. Unlock the car when you get to the car to avoid someone getting into your car ahead of you. And, don't stand in the middle of your trunk to load your things. Stand to the side to load the trunk. Or, you just might be in the trunk!!!
Today he taught us how to defend from a "punch" attack and also from a knife attack. Since all of us here are over 55, he stressed that learning these defenses can work no matter how old you are or how weak or strong you are.
One male resident in a wheelchair also learned what he could do from his position to defend himself from these same kind of attacks. He recently had an episode where he felt threatened out on the street at night, so he needed this today as well.
Since I can't demonstrate the techniques for you (ha ha), you'll just have to look it up for yourself. He may come back and do more classes in the future. It was an interesting morning!
There's lots of youtube videos showing Kajukenbo techniques if you're interested.
Our instructor is a sixth degree black belt in Kajukenbo martial arts. It's a mixed martial arts system developed in the 1940's in Hawaii. It's used all over the world now. This instructor learned it in the Marine Corps, thirty years ago.
He said as a young Marine they were always told to run for their PT and Marines in his unit were always 'blowing out' knees from running and stepping in holes or tripping on branches, etc. keeping their readiness level 'unsat' as my daughter would say. He said their CO told them "I don't care if you play badminton for PT, but increase your readiness!!" Anyway, they started this discipline of martial arts.
Here's a link to a Wikipedia page about Kajukenbo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajukenbo
He began like I expected him to: always be aware of your surroundings, notice what other vehicles are around you when you park, park under lights, check all the way around you when you get out of the car, etc. which I already do. The one thing I need to remember is: When leaving somewhere to get to your car, don't unlock your car when you're still at a distance from it. Unlock the car when you get to the car to avoid someone getting into your car ahead of you. And, don't stand in the middle of your trunk to load your things. Stand to the side to load the trunk. Or, you just might be in the trunk!!!
Today he taught us how to defend from a "punch" attack and also from a knife attack. Since all of us here are over 55, he stressed that learning these defenses can work no matter how old you are or how weak or strong you are.
One male resident in a wheelchair also learned what he could do from his position to defend himself from these same kind of attacks. He recently had an episode where he felt threatened out on the street at night, so he needed this today as well.
Since I can't demonstrate the techniques for you (ha ha), you'll just have to look it up for yourself. He may come back and do more classes in the future. It was an interesting morning!
There's lots of youtube videos showing Kajukenbo techniques if you're interested.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Summertime...
Well, it's summertime and that means HUMIDITY. Temperatures in the high 80's with rain. We have had some thunderstorms which is the typical summer weather. We did go to the beach last Sunday before a thunderstorm started but it rained on our way home. It was about 91 degrees on Sunday. (The last time we went to the beach, I got burned, so this time I was basically covered!)
The humidity causes the salt in my shakers to harden and I have to break it up before using it. The holes in the lids clog up! The same for sugar in my sugar canister. I have to break it up before measuring it. I have a container of this product in my bathroom. I think I will need one in the kitchen as well. (The one in my bathroom has about an inch and a half of water in it that it has already taken out of the air!)
________________________________________________________________________________
The USO has a story time for moms and their kids every Tuesday morning all year long, but in the summer, they have special themed story times where they can dress up, hear the story and are served lunch. I worked at these events last summer and yesterday worked at the first one for this summer.
Today's theme was "Camping" and they were encouraged to come dressed as if they were on a camp-out. One staff member created a "campfire" for the story time and they were served chili and chips, fruit cups and of course cupcakes. The cupcakes that volunteers brought were cutely decorated; some with s'more-like ingredients on top or toppings made to look like a campfire.
Once the guests start leaving, we pick up all the chairs, wipe down high chairs and fold up the tables. Chocolate cupcake crumbs and all.
Overall it's a fun event to work at, but glad they only come once a month through the summer!
The humidity causes the salt in my shakers to harden and I have to break it up before using it. The holes in the lids clog up! The same for sugar in my sugar canister. I have to break it up before measuring it. I have a container of this product in my bathroom. I think I will need one in the kitchen as well. (The one in my bathroom has about an inch and a half of water in it that it has already taken out of the air!)
The USO has a story time for moms and their kids every Tuesday morning all year long, but in the summer, they have special themed story times where they can dress up, hear the story and are served lunch. I worked at these events last summer and yesterday worked at the first one for this summer.
Today's theme was "Camping" and they were encouraged to come dressed as if they were on a camp-out. One staff member created a "campfire" for the story time and they were served chili and chips, fruit cups and of course cupcakes. The cupcakes that volunteers brought were cutely decorated; some with s'more-like ingredients on top or toppings made to look like a campfire.
 |
| I should have taken the photo before the little kiddie chairs were put away!There was probably twenty little chairs surrounding this fire and the story teller. It even had red lights flickering inside. Very impressive. Of course the un-decorated Christmas trees had to come out to resemble the forest!
I served sweet tea, yellow and pink lemonade to moms and kids. Some moms herding two and three kids through the line, and maybe holding a baby at the same time. As usual it was kind of "organized chaos."
|
Overall it's a fun event to work at, but glad they only come once a month through the summer!
Monday, May 28, 2018
Memorial Day BBQ
We're having rain today from subtropical storm Alberto. It has rained constantly all day long. We are under flood watch, but there's no flooding near me.
I just got home from a community meal here at my building. One of the residents, "Miss Bertha" (who I've never seen, nor met) has a son who owns and operates a BBQ restaurant and/or food truck called Dem Boyz BBQN. He brought everything needed for everyone to have a nice meal! He told me he does this every year on Memorial Day and on Labor Day. I believe him, because he seemed to know all the residents who have been here for years, and he knew that a few of us are new! He's a big gregarious guy who seems to love what he does.
And of course, we're in the South, so his Mama prayed for our meal before we started.
He brought BBQ, which in NC is pulled pork, beef brisket, ribs, sausage and a few hamburgers along with macaroni and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, rice and beans, and potato salad. And, of course the Southern official dessert: banana pudding! His Mama made sure the banana pudding came! 😊
He told me he loves doing this more than we love having him come. There was so much left and he insisted we take home a plate for later or tomorrow. I've only had NC BBQ a couple of times, but this was by far the best I've had. Will look forward to Labor Day!
I just got home from a community meal here at my building. One of the residents, "Miss Bertha" (who I've never seen, nor met) has a son who owns and operates a BBQ restaurant and/or food truck called Dem Boyz BBQN. He brought everything needed for everyone to have a nice meal! He told me he does this every year on Memorial Day and on Labor Day. I believe him, because he seemed to know all the residents who have been here for years, and he knew that a few of us are new! He's a big gregarious guy who seems to love what he does.
And of course, we're in the South, so his Mama prayed for our meal before we started.
He brought BBQ, which in NC is pulled pork, beef brisket, ribs, sausage and a few hamburgers along with macaroni and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, rice and beans, and potato salad. And, of course the Southern official dessert: banana pudding! His Mama made sure the banana pudding came! 😊
He told me he loves doing this more than we love having him come. There was so much left and he insisted we take home a plate for later or tomorrow. I've only had NC BBQ a couple of times, but this was by far the best I've had. Will look forward to Labor Day!
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