Well, I can finally write this post, as the soreness and stiffness in my muscles has finally subsided. Last week, Heather and I (along with our friends, the Sallises and about 150 other volunteers) went to my school to build a playground. Some of you may remember from some of my earlier posts that it was scheduled to be constructed on the anniversary of the storm, but as often happens it was pushed back to October. At any rate, it was a gorgeous day, sunny, cool, 50 percent humidity, a perfect day to spend outside. I won't relay a play by play detail fest to you, suffice to say I haven't worked THAT hard since ... OK ... well ... EVER!!!
I don't know how those folks from Ka-boom and Planet Recess that were there to show us how to do everything can do it! My hat is off to them. Heather and I started by working on a 15-foot high pile of mulch/wood chips. She got on the crew carrying tarps full of the stuff to the playground, and I grabbed a shovel, climbed to the top of the pile and started trying to bring the top of the pile down, inch by inch. Let me tell you, that cool day was a blessing, because I started heating up right quick! That' abut the point when I remembered two facts -- 1) Wet mulch is really heavy! (or so I thought) and 2) the last time I was around cedar chips I had a REALLY violent allergic reaction to them which made my lips and throat tingle and swell up, and landed me in a doctor's office for a steroid shot! Luckily, as I said, I was on top of the pile, and a fair breeze was blowing, keeping the allergens away from me (I had tried just not breathing, but that didn't work out too well!).
Anyway, after about three hours of this fun -- and believe me, it's a tad discouraging at how little a 15-foot pile of mulch decreases in three hours; I think that it expands as you remove it, so it never seems to get smaller, sort of like what my family always called "Starfish casserole" because it seemed like you had more leftovers than actual dish! -- someone asked for volunteers to go help move the sand into the sandbox. Now don't get me wrong, I'm usually the first to step forward for details like this. I was always the kid in school who wanted to go first with his book report just to get it over with (plus teachers are more lenient on your grading that way!), but I think I hesitated to get on this project because I wanted to see the job I started come closer to completion. You know, stick with it! It may, however, have been that I realized that sand is HEAVY, and I was feeling challenged on the mulch pile!
Then they came again to ask for help on the sand, and when I saw the looks of terror on the other volunteers faces (as well as my own) I threw down my shovel slid as gracefully as I could manage to the bottom of the pile, gave my cowboy hat a tug and said "I'll go". It wasn't until I was walking over to the giant sand pile that I realized they were moving it over by the wheelbarrow full. Ugh! Not only that, the rains from the days before had created a new wetland in the back of the school, and the trail of the barrows led right through this swampy soup, making it swampier and soupier with every passing moment. I was about to need to find something I had forgotten over in my classroom when I saw my friend Angela Sallis wheeling a wheelbarrow of sand into the swamp. Bested and shamed into it, I rushed up, helped her get her barrow past a particularly soft sticking patch of muck, and got into the line to move the mountain of sand. Turns out I was right, sand is HEAVY! After about an hour of this (Stand there while other volunteers shovel the sand into the barrel, wheel it to the sand box, lift the barrow to empty it, repeat) I was thinking "Hey! That mulch wasn't so bad really!"
Not quite the chain gang
About that time, Heather came to get me, because it was time for our team to go to lunch! Now there's a lifting job I felt qualified to handle! At the end of our fine repast of red beans and rice and a mighty fine peach cobbler, we headed back out to the playground/prison camp. (I say that jokingly, but I did have a conversation with several young volunteers who were shoveling the sand about how, rough as this day was, you were just volunteering, and could take breaks. It's a good incentive to keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble, because I don't think roadside prison work details are as accommodating, plus you do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next.)It was at this point when I was mightily puzzled. You see, I lifted up my straw cowboy hat to put it back on, and it seemed to have gained several hundred pounds during lunch!
Ruing my fate, I headed back to the sand pile with the courage of a condemned man (see how my mood was improving as the day wore on!) when I was grabbed by another team leader asking for help with the concrete. OK, at least it was a change, right? Wrong! Believe me, I am truly, deeply and humbly sorry for any disparaging remarks I may have made about anyone who has ever worked with cement for a living! (I don't think I've ever made any, but just in case let me apologize publicly: I'm sorry! Lo siento! Doy bu chee! I have nothing but the utmost respect for you!) From the first moment I tried to hoist an 80 pound bag of concrete into a whellbarrow (Freudian slip, that) to the first frustration of trying to get the bag off of it, to mixing it up like some Herculean cake batter, I knew I was not cut out for a career in cement! Wheeling the barrows of mixed cement, I heard my straining muscles say, "Wow! That sand really wasn't so bad!" It was only made worse when one of our team leader ladies decided to speed things up by doing two bags at a time! She had poured them, mixed them and then discovered that she couldn't lift the barrow! She asked me to help, and I, muscle-bound as I am, (are you picking up on my sarcasm, because I'm laying it on pretty thick!) could just barely budge it.
Through all of this, I managed to survive, and the playground was completed right on time at 2:30. I still don't know HOW they can pinpoint it so precisely! I stood tiredly and a bit disheveled as they made presentations and thanked the Stennis Rotary Club and various international Rotary Clubs for their fund raising efforts to make the playground possible. I thought it a tad cruel (and ironic) that they had to explain to the kids present that, although the playground was finished, they couldn't play on it for 72 hours while the cement set.
Most important though, over the course of last week, I took a couple of my classes over to the playground to admire the sculptural and artistic qualities of their new playground and they LOVE IT!!! The zip cord is a huge hit, as is my old friend the sand box. It has cement dinosaur skeletons in the bottom of it, so that the kids can practice their archaeological skills. It's nice to know that from the efforts of Ka- Boom, Planet Recess the Rotarians international and many worn-out volunteers, I'm able to see these children of the storm laugh and be truly happy for at least a little while.
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Wow Steve - I had no idea it took that much work to build a playground, but I am sure the kids are beyond excited to have it! They so need this boost to their environment that has been ravaged. Thank you for the report! Is there any place where we can see a picture of this playground - on your school's website, maybe?
Stephanie Umbro, Maine (Sent Nov 5, 2006 6:02:02 PM)
Ah, Steve, that was my third Kaboom! build and they get more fun every time. You're right, it's a tremendous amount of hard work, but every time I drive or walk past a playground I helped build it gives me a great feeling to see the kids playing on them. And they're the coolest playgrounds ever! I wish I had playgrounds like that when I was a kid.
To see photos of this build (and lots others besides) go here:
http://www.kaboom.org/AboutUs/PhotoGalleries/tabid/4914/Default.aspx
and you'll see Kiln, MS in their list of recently added photos. You can also select 'Find Specific Builds By Date' and find the build there; the specific date was October 28, 2006, in Kiln, MS.
David E. Sallis, Bay St. Louis, MS (Sent Nov 5, 2006 11:27:24 PM)
Steve: I laughed and cried reading your blog. The reward of seeing so many happy smiling faces has to ease the pain. I know these kids will forever remember what you and the other volunteers have done to give them such a wonderful playground.
Keep up the great work and keep writing. I just love your humor and your caring spirit. Take Care!
Andrea, Lafayette, La. (Sent Nov 6, 2006 5:37:13 PM)
Good for you and the kids, Steve. I hope the children enjoy many years of fun and exercise on their new playground. As far as your posts goes, now I'm seeing shades of "Cool Hand Luke."
Jane, Southern Mississippi (Sent Nov 8, 2006 1:40:00 AM)
I live in Brazil and I am always praying for God to help all the people who lost parents and houses. God bless all.
Monica
monica , Rio de Janeiro (Sent Nov 9, 2006 6:18:57 AM)
Wow! That must have been a lot of hard work for you and the volunteers but it was worth it. I'm sure the kids are having lots of fun on the playground these days. They deserve it after all they've been through.
I enjoy your posts--take care!
Olivia Elizabeth Burdon, Peoria, Ill. (Sent Nov 10, 2006 9:29:09 AM)
Bless all the volunteers, the children will enjoy you hard work for years to come!
andy,booneville ms. (Sent Nov 10, 2006 5:10:38 PM)
And David thanks for the Kaboom website...that's neat!
andy,booneville ms. (Sent Nov 10, 2006 5:14:03 PM)
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