First Day at the site

Yesterday was the first day at the house we were going to be working on. The home owner was Kevin Short, who ironically was short. He showed us how to do the different tasks he wanted accomplished and we immediately started working. He talked to us the whole time about the Hurricane and people he had helped. I learned that he had helped build about 7 houses before he started working on his. He told us about each of his neighbors and how they got through the flooding. Looking out into the neighborhood, he showed us where houses used to be, which houses are being rebuilt and where some houses landed. This helped me get an even more vivid picture of what happened in the area when Katrina hit.
At his house, I learned how to use some wood tools I had never seen before. There was a wood shaving thing and a kind of polishing tool. He had a lot of confidence in me when he taught me and even left me to prepare the wood he had set out using those tools. Although it is easy for me to feel incapable, he really helped me get my confidence up and realize that I could do a lot more than I think I can.
Later on he sat us down and showed us pictures he had collected. He told us that he had lost all his pictures in the flood. I can tell that his pictures were very valuable to him. Only two of them were saved. He showed us pictures of the demolished houses after katrina hit, pictures of his neighbors, and pictures of Katrina heroes he had met over the years. From one person, Mr. Short, I feel like I know the stories of people who survived Katrina. Their stories are trully amazing and heroic and it helped me realize what a true blessing people can be to each other in so many ways. Because of the unfortunate flooding, a kind of heroic character has come out of lots of people from different walks of life. It gives me some comfort to know that.