Working with COVER

On this lovely Green Key weekend, several things have happened. Yesterday, Kim, Erik and I worked with COVER in Vermont. We finished out 8-hours of sweat-equity by repairing a roting floor on a trailer. We spent the morning ripping up tiles and cutting out plywood-turned- to-dirt. It was really nice to get in there and get my hands dirty. ................. I learned how to wield a saw!!..........
I have never really had much
experience with things like this. In New Mexico I helped re-plaster an old adobe Church, and I've helped to dig out Acequias, but this time I got to use hammers, drills, electric saws and all that to really do some more precise work, and I enjoyed it so much! It was fun to build, but it was also amazing to work with these people. there were only 5 people working on the house, so I was able to get to know everyone a bit more.
Hugh, Me, Gisela, Kim and Erik
Gloria, the woman who lived in the trailer we were working on, was very sweet to us. She was so glad we had come by and were actually acting on a promise of help. After lunch, she even pitched in and gave us a hand demolishing the front porch. It seemed like she was having a great time. She told us a lot of stories about growing up on a farm in Kansas, and eventually moving out here to VT with her first husband. It nice to know your work is going to someone who really could use it. As Hugh said, service goes both ways. Gloria got help, a little company, and a new floor, but we also got something out of it. The helpers are just as enriched as those we helped. It was a good day.