Website

I am in the process of revamping the FTA Photography website (FTA = From the Ashes) where I am housing my nascent photography dreams...

http://www.ftaphotography.com/

Click on "Places" and you'll find some photos from this trip as well as other adventures (without the trailer).

Cheers!
Kelly

Videos

I'm sure there is a better way to do this but I put together a slideshow of the photos that made the highlight reel (some may seem familiar to those who have looked at the blog). There are 2 ways to get to the videos:

Option 1 - If you want the "hi def" versions and you have a good internet connection then this is the link for you (takes you to my photography website).
http://www.ftaphotography.com/gallery/7519722_HCrCj/1/#485642964_vZxYZ-A-LB

Option 2 - For a quick and dirty version you can check them out on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9jbaIq5lFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBeda-8DoA0

Everytime I watch these I can't help but smile... :) Life back in the "real" world is good. It was a little bit of an adjustment but I am finding the magic wherever I can.

Cheers!
Kelly

Well...

I know I've been lax lately in writing and there are many adventures to catch you all up on but there won't be any new ones. The time has come and I am back in New Jersey for new adventures of life here.




Trailer less now I made it from Orlando home in 3 days which could easily have been a two day drive but had stops to make. Got in yesterday after lunch with sister in DC. Before that I stopped for the night in Richmond to visit with Jess and Mike and new baby Braden (see above for cuteness).

Taylor is parked at a storage facility in Orlando waiting for Uncle Greg to come back down and take a trip to the Keys for the winter. Greg came for a few days this past weekend and we went through the basics of Taylor 101 and saw the Space Shuttle Endeavor launch on the 14th.

The bright light is the rocket booster just after ignition, the white circle in the top left is the just-past-full moon. We watched from across the water about 10-12 miles away and heard the take off a full minute after I took this picture. I couldn't have planned this if I tried, a last minute fantastic way to end the trailer leg of the trip.

Before that I was in Panama City Beach camped at St Andrews State Park. My friend Pat came for a few days and we had intense games of Scrabble , great finds at the dollar store and general chilling by the fire time. A relaxing last few days in the Chuck Taylor.

The week before I was in Biloxi doing Habitat - spent that time siding (a big puzzle), a little roofing and insulation (absolutely no fun - very itchy). It was a good week at Grand Island National Seashore and I ended it with some fellow volunteers with a night of bowling and a brief trip to the Casinos, Biloxi has been called the "Redneck Riviera."

And I think that catches us up to where I last posted. Those are very brief descriptions of the last few weeks but that's the short version of it all. There may be another post trip posting with some grand summaries and lessons learned. But should I get distracted and this be the last one, I want to say thanks to everyone who came on the journey and to everyone who supported me along the way in various ways. It was a lot easier to travel alone knowing how much love and support I had behind me.

Cheers!
Kelly

Election Night Buzz

It's an exciting day. I can't imagine being in a more red state with my blue liberal politics. Mississippi. I have moved on from the build in Louisianna. We finished up over the course of the week, it looks like a house. Kind of cool. Had a nice dinner and said farewell to the work crew.

The Habitat CARE-A-VANNERS crew, Bayou Blue Louisianna

L to R: Bill, Peggy and Bandit, Steve and Jan, Yours Truly, Gwen and Lowell, Jan and Less, Steve, Mike, Roseanne and George

Aunt Jo came to visit for a weekend in Louisiana and got to hammer some nails in. We went to the Voodoo Experience, which was really just a music festival and saw Lil' Wayne. That was an experience for sure. We had good coffee, went to Bourbon Street for a quick walk. It was a short visit but good to spend some time with my Aunt Johanna.

Well Obama is in the lead at the moment but I am not counting my chickens until I hear them clucking. Mississippi, shockingly, went McCain. I am out near Biloxi in Ocean Springs doing a week of Habitat here.

Spent the weekend near New Orleans at Bayou Segnette State Park. Liz came to visit and we had adventures galore. Saw aligators and snakes, drunk people and interesting costumes on Bourbon Street on Halloween. Definitely an interesting place to spend that holiday.

It was time to move on after 2 weeks there. Some interesting social issues that the experience brought to my attention. That is a bit too much to blog at this point but the epiphany I've been searching for came but I can tell you it was a different experience that I was expecting.

Gots to run.

Cheers,
Kelly

The Build

I arrived in Gray Louisianna on October 16th. Making the 5 hour drive from Houston that day. A last minute spur of the moment change of plans and I got a (relatively) cheap flight home for the weekend.

Went for a hike in my favorite woods at Ramapo Reservation, had good dinner with the family, played games, went to church, had a nice fall bike ride...lovely weekend home.

Came back Monday early to start work. I arrived at lunch time to find the crew in full swing (literally), hammers going. I got set up with Gwen and Jan who were working on framing a wall. I learned about crowning the studs and getting the frame squared up. There were maybe 15 other people about doing all kinds of things.

Day 1 was a bit confusing to me, seemed to be inefficient and I wasn't quite sure how it all got done. But the flow came to me, you really just insert yourself where needed. Being flexible and asking how can I help will get you something to do from whoever looks busy. I had to just take a chill pill and realize it's okay if the house isn't built in a day, that it was just as important to have everyone involved and contributing than "efficiency."

This development was land bought by, I want to say Oprah's Miracle Network and the first 30 houses were paid for and completely stocked after Katrina. Best part, the street is named after Bon Jovi. Assuming he helped out on this too. They now have nearly 75 houses and it's the traditional Habitat model, familys have to show need, income (in a certain range) and put in "sweat" equity on either their house or other houses being built.

Well Day 1 I joined Mike another volunteer to experience some local Cajun music, it was a group of seniors jamming at the National Historical Site in Thibidoux. Had some decent pizza and beer after where we ran into the two Americorps volunteers Lee-Shin and Matt, and the Habitat site supervisor, Kai.

The next day Lowell took charge and wrote out instruction on how to put on the top plate and listed out the days activites which was helpful. So I learned out to put on a top plate which is the wood that holds all the frames of the walls together, ties them to the outside of the house.

Wednesday the house looked like this...

Mainly the group is retired folks who have done the RV Care-A-Vanner builds before. There is Linda, a single mom taking a break from Manhattan on a long deserved road trip, Mike the retired electrical engineer from West Virginia, Janet and Steve, Steve's sister Crystal and the other couples who are just inspiring and great.

Will give more next time, but need to get some rest. I can't keep up with these folks...hard work days...but it's a good tired. A really good tired. I'll take a picture in the morning of what the house looks like now 2 days later. It's amazing.

Cheers!
Kelly

The Battle

Well I'm still in Texas. Scheduled to leave tomorrow for Louisanna making my way towards New Orleans area by the 19th for some Habitat work I'm very excited for.


I didn't quite plan on being at Lockhart State Park for so long but a few delays...well really just one delay and it came from Monday night after doing some laundry. I discovered...somehow...fleas in the trailer. The next 2 days were spent engaged in chemical warfare against the little creatures. Loads of laundry later, a day trip to San Antonio to get my camera cleaned (fuzzy spots on all my pictures) and I was back in action.

I made my way across to Houston area and have been camped out at Brazos Bend State Park. I had dinner with some Linde folks on Friday, enjoying some margaritas and thoughts other than my own. Spent the weekend exploring the park, saw armadillos and went to the George Observatory at night to see the moons of Jupiter. Really. 4 of them.

There is apparently a 3000 year old hurricane on Saturn that is 3 times the size of Earth. Kind of puts it all in perspective. Granted the planet is a giant ball of liquid hydrogen. Makes me realize how absolutely unfriendly the universe is and how delicate our existence is at all.

The last few days been puttering around Houston area. Last night I went to see the journalist Robin Wright speak at the Junior League as part of the World Affairs Council of Houston. She has travelled and reported from the middle east for over 30 years and provided some unique insights and thoughts about the challenges in the region.

With the financial crisis in full bloom and the panic over it, it worries me a bit that the other issues get swept under the table. It's a big down, a correction, it will come back up. I say everyone unplug the TV, stop watching the news, and open up a book. I know there are people immediately impacted by this downturn in a really bad way. Like all things though it will come back, this is temporary. It may take awhile but it will. Maybe I'm just an optimist living in the woods right now but what other choice is there but to hope for the best?

I've been doing my part, at 900 Gallons of gas so far - I have certainly been putting my money back into the economy. :)

Hope everyone is well. Looking forward to getting my hands dirty next week for the Habitat work.

Cheers!
Kelly

The Catch

Click on the title to see the video of Peter catching the human projectile called Kelly...

https://www.t-mobilepictures.com/myalbum/photos/photo35/66/0f/d0bc37a28d40.gif

For some reason that is not working try clicking on this link to see it...