Day 4

Today's bloggers are Randall Hornick and Cameron MacLean

Today’s theme was walls – lots of walls!

We finished yesterday at noon and left for a city tour with all walls assembled and leaning against the structure.  Confidence was high that many of these would be up when we started today – Lisa firmly believed that at least 4 walls would be standing and bet a return trip for each wall that she was wrong by.  We arrived to no walls up and Lisa was ecstatic to commit to 4 more Rhino years!

The project when we arrived this morning.

Our weapons awaited us.

First - instruction.

Then - implementation.

By lunch, all exterior walls (except one for access) were up.  

By close of the day, all assembled internal walls were up and all external walls were racked. 

In the words of Mike our construction manager, “it was a good day!”

Though not without challenges.

Another first today after yesterday’s front wall raising ceremony was being joined by Patricia, a new participant in the Habitat program, with today her first 8 hours of her 350 hour commitment.  She rounded up our number to an even and productive team of ten.   A working mother with two boys, she  seemed to appreciate the journey ahead of her squeezing 350 hours into non work days but was an inspiration for the team seeing active and enthusiastic participation from Habitat homeowners to be.

Today’s lunch was another meal compliments of Jim Hobdon - this time delicious po’ boy  sandwiches were served, which were a welcome break to the hottest  morning we’ve had since we arrived. 

Discussions of the infamous Nutria permeated the work today following lengthy discourse last night in the “lounge”.  The Nutria is a native creature to Louisiana and the gulf coast – an adorable animal known for its high-protein meat. 

The team’s favorite recipe after perusing Wikipedia last night is below.

Heart Healthy 'Crock-Pot' Nutria

2 hind saddle portions of nutria meat 1 small onion, sliced thin 1 tomato, cut into big wedges 2 potatoes, sliced thin 2 carrots, sliced thin 8 Brussels sprouts 1/2 cup white wine 1 cup water 2 teaspoons chopped garlic Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup demi-glace (optional) Layer onion, tomato, potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts in crockpot. Season nutria with salt, pepper and garlic, and place nutria over vegetables. Add wine and water, set crockpot on low and let cook until meat is tender (approximately 1-1/2 hours). Garnish with vegetables and demi-glace. Makes four servings.

We also heard a theory from our construction manager that the women volunteers were perceived to be more effective than the male volunteers.  This matter was hotly debated during the day and at dinner.  The debate continues!

A large Nutria was rumored and confirmed to be on site and today’s photos show the lovable beast showing its razor teeth which the beast is known to flash when cornered.

David learned from googling that there is bounty on the Nutria of $5.00 per tail.  He is already talking about combining the next RHINO trip with a fund-raising excursion into the marshes.  With a quota of 100 tails per person, the trip could be very profitable.

Lisa became the most serious injury (and hopefully final) when she nailed her finger instead of a nail (it happens after about 9,000 nails) and produced a painful blood blister.  Not-withstanding this and her additional 4 year commitment, she was like the rest of the team - in great spirit after 3 days of tremendous progress!

The BIG hammer.

The porch post from hell!

It can be a messy job being a Habitat Site Manager.

Making sure the lumber will be there tomorrow.

Our hydration totem pole.

For dinner we were hosted by a family of the St Charles Avenue congregation - Tony and Mary Price Dunbar, their son Sam and their dog Jackson, who showed us great hospitality inviting us into their home for the evening.  We enjoyed fine wines, a potato shrimp & vegetable dish, cheese grits and a salad while hearing about their individual story of the Katrina disaster and their response.  Tony is a lawyer and an acclaimed writer and our team enjoyed giving prolific advice on how to write to cater to today’s young adult reader.  Mary Price grew up in New Orleans, was the owner of a bookstore before selling her shop and presented a delicious and filling meal, topped off with an excellent pecan pie.