So it came to Wednesday. Barry apparently woke up at 4:45 and did his Bible study, which I guess he does every day. Mike and I had no idea he was even awake. And Barry's optimism and encouragement are so remarkable. I was sleeping a little better by now, but I still need those earplugs.
Joe was making dinner that night and he drove 40 minutes just to find pigs feet and bulbs of garlic. I had never seen pigs feet with pasta, my grandfather would always eat them pickled out of the jar. But for better or worse, I was actually looking forward to it. Jane made us a great French toast casserole and were headed back to Clay County and Mike had Beatles music blaring on the stereo. He literally has 13,000 songs on his Ipod.
We finished the siding on the right side of the house just before lunchtime, which was a great feeling. That siding was tough because that side of the house is a triangle at the top, which means a lot of angled cuts. The trailer is really starting to look more like a home, thought the front will be a big job that is getting worked on next week.
After lunch, Mike, Ellen, and I used our hammers to decimate what was left of that old deck. We slammed those railings,posts, and baseboards right out. We began digging holes for the new posts and leveling the dirt for the concrete ramp. Joe and Jane even showed up to watch and I could already smell the garlic. Joe even took his turn to shovel a little dirt. I must say it was quite a sight seeing a redneck like Glen and a city slicker like Joe conversing with each other. Two totally different types of guys, two different cultures, and they were working together. How cool is that? Nancy, Trevor, and I dug five holes for posts at the end of the day and then we unloaded a lot of lumber off Donnie's truck in preparation for the ramp as well as the new front porch. Thursday was announced as Concrete Day! Also, I got stung by a bee, but I was fine after about 20 minutes.
We walked in to the CAP house around 4:45 and the garlic was REALLY intense by now. Joe used about 10 cloves of garlic, but they were raw, which is even tougher on the stomach than sauteed or roasted garlic. We then took the opportunity to teach people the difference between sauce and gravy as well as macaroni and pasta. Put it this way, in New York, macaroni is not always elbow pasta.
I remember this too. I was hanging at the table checking my e-mail when Barry offered Joe some help. I thought to myself "Adam, why are you not helping out? Can't you look to someone else's interests?" And I know I'm serving this whole week here, but it was just a little thing I could have done that may have made a difference.
I knew Bridget was coming to dinner along with some other folks and she looked so pretty. She wore these orange sandals that matched the color of her top and it was quite a sight.
The flavor of the dinner was too intense even for me. I am as big a fan of garlic as there is, so when I notice it on my own breath, well, that's saying a lot. Not only that, but there were only four pigs feet and I did not even get a taste. So that did disappoint me.
I did the dishes that night while Jimmy and Joe basically ran the table. We headed over to Gray Hawk Baptist church, right behind the man-cave. The little church of about 400 members was mostly brown and orange inside, a sign we had come to the right place. We sang "To God Be The Glory" and the pastor, who is also a firefighter, spoke about the Holy Spirit. He talked about how the Spirit is eternal, God is in charge of salvation, not man. It's really our job to turn and repent and answer the call of God. But I remember this very well: We don't seek after God, after all, God isn't the one who is lost! Rather, Christ draws us in. And the people of that congregation were very kind to us and receptive of us. What amazed me was when we heard that of all the groups that have stayed in the CAP house right across the street, we were the first to ever attend their church! And what amazed me most of all was that anyone actually approached us after we ate all that garlic!
We walked back into an empty house around 8:20 and the house still smelled like garlic. We played another round of dominoes; I won the first before dropping three straight. I brushed my teeth for the second time in three hours. I realized that night that we only had one full day remaining in Kentucky. This was the probably the point where I realized how fast the trip was passing us by.
I took some time that night to read Father Ralph Beiting's autobiography, who's the man that started the CAP in the 60's. I give him credit for having such a servant's heart and taking on such a difficult project in Appalachia, where the poverty is so prevalent. Not to mention looking to the Lord for his wisdom and guidance.
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