Louisiana Mission Trip Day 4

Things are getting interesting around here. One member of the team is hospitalized, and four others are down with a vicious bronchitis. Most of the bronchitis is in the men's dorm and I am grateful for that, but one of the women is now down and I am praying like mad that I can avoid it. I have had more shots than most dogs, and while I don't really like to pray that I will be spared at another's expense, I can do that!

We have almost finished all of the work, and we should be done by noon tomorrow. On the great scale of things, we have done little; on the small scale of things, we have done a great deal. There are a half a dozen families in Dulac whose lives are a tiny bit better than they were this time last week, and there are 27 Californians who have been blessed many times over, in spite of the disease.

The bayou is very interesting. The land is not ever more than three or four feet above sea level unless it has been built up by humans, and it is flat. I mean flatter than Kansas; flatter than eastern Colorado; flatter than flat! There are many new and wonderful birds, and while I would love to see an alligator, I am rather happy that the water moccasins are hibernating! (So are the alligators!) It is surprisingly cold here, and I guess that is not all that unusual. As we talk to the natives, they tell us that January is cold. It is really a lot like Crescent City.

I am still not sure why I was called to this place. I am enjoying myself. I am enjoying the work and I am loving meeting the people. The natural history is more than I can possibly absorb in a week. But I am also sad. Other members of the team had great expectations, and they are disappointed and frustrated. I guess they thought that 27 people were going to be able to come down here and save the world. They have lost sight of the fact that we are all amateurs trying to do the right thing, and they complain because all is not going as fast as they would like. They are forgetting that we are working in a culture as different from California as night and day; the people of Dulac neither move nor think like we do. I am sad that the point has been lost in the details.

I will do this again. I don't know when, where, or with whom, but I have been changed, and maybe that is why I am here! As George said, we will never see a news story about hurricanes in southern Louisiana without wondering about our friends! That is what is important.