Hot as Hell today! The temperature had to have hit 100F. The sun is brutal. You have to work in spurts. You want to do as much work as possible and not be a slacker but you have to be realistic.
As the story goes, the threatening gang-banger stopped by last night and apologized. Maybe someone in the community got to him or he just sobered up. He told the nuns that the wall would not be marked up. We’ll see if this holds but it is progress. Our crew has been cleaning up the area between the sidewalk and the street. Some of the parents have seen it and like it. They have offered to donate plantings and trees.
This is the point of these projects. We can’t clean up an entire downtrodden area. Maybe we can start the ball rolling to show people that a little effort and pride can motivate everyone to do better and take more of an interest. Somebody has to make a start.
Mike suggested to the nuns that maybe they should have some art students paint a mural on the wall. They called an art school and they were excited by the idea. They are going to come out and look at it. It could be a great project for them. A mural would go a long way to prevent graffiti.
Lunch, my favorite time of day. It just get’s better. Today the specialty was pasta with meat sauce. This wasn’t just any pasta. The secretary of the school has worked there for 50 years. She hand made the noodles. They were fresh and soft when she brought them to the school. Truly amazing!
You work on these projects and usually there is a great outpouring of gratitude at the beginning and then things tail off. The food gets worse and fewer people show up. This project is exactly the opposite. It’s almost as if enthusiasm is building. There is more and better food every day. They want to accommodate our every whim. There are more people there every day and they want to come back. The great thing is that ours is a group of giving, experienced people that have all checked their ego at the door. We don’t expect their appreciation but it is still heartwarming and motivating. There is absolutely no sense of ingratitude.
Dinner tonight was back to the local Italian place. Great food, reasonable price. What more could you ask for except a full time masseuse to ease my aching muscles.
The repainted wall. It will be painted blue. White just is too inviting to graffiti.
The local workers that are helping with the wall. They act a site managers to make sure we are doing things right. They also mix cement and coordinate things.
This is how hot it was today.