Back on the Road

First of all, it is time to get off the island for a little bit.  ServePro has finished tearing out the house; Woody, Armando, and Samaritan’s Purse are working on the garage apartment, so, there is nothing we can do there except be in the way for now.  A massive amount of refuse removal must be done before we can begin to think about reconstruction, and, we need to get back to work.

So, it is time to be in Kentucky for the wonderful Cave Run Storytelling Festival.  This is the twenty-first year of the festival and I have been here eleven of those years. It has been a wonderful thing to watch the festival grow and solidify into its present mature state.

The festival happens on Cave Run Lake, at a National Forest site called Twin Knobs, located nine miles south of Morehead, Kentucky on Highway 801.  The tents are lakeside and beautiful in their setting and parking is right beside the main tent.

We started today with a day of school student field trips.  Students from five surrounding counties come every year, some of them taking very long bus trips to get here.  They are wonderful and practiced listeners who make it a joy to be with them.

Buses pull in and students arrive.

Tomorrow we will have another day with students filling three tents for the day.  When school is out, the mainstream part of the Festival begins and continues through Saturday evening.

Cave Run always programs very strongly.  This year I get to be here with Dianne Ferlatte, Peter Cook, Anne Rutherford, Josh Goforth, Delores Hydock, and Kim Weitkamp.  We are having a great time together.  This is a festival you should think of working into your future!

Dolores Hydock tells to Middle and High School Students.

The Wedding Happened!

I just got home on the last ferry of the day after the quick trip to New Orleans for Jonathan and Kahran’s wedding.  It was a great little trip and a wonderful wedding event.

They got married in a beautiful church in the Garden District.  I was going to perform the ceremony, but, after the stress of the Hurricane, my whole mind was running on exhaustion power, so, Kahran’s Uncle did the honors and did a much better job than I ever could have even thought of.  It was personable and funny and serious and impressive.  Everyone loved it.

It was a very happy day!

As soon as the ceremony was finished the entire party was led on a walking street parade by a brass band. We all walked behind the band from the church to the reception site.  The parade happened to fit into a little break in the thundershowers that had plagued the day.

On the parade route.

The reception site was a place called Eiffel, so named because the building itself was constructed out of materials removed from the Eiffel Tower during a major renovation to the observation and restaurant level.  The brass band stayed around and, after numerous roasts and speeches, played for the rest of the evening.

Kahran was beautiful and Jonathan was all shined up.  Jonathan’s son, Tommy, was precious.  All the relatives did themselves proud.  It was an event to remember and hold in all our hearts forever.

The wedding party at the reception.

Remembering Trish’s Dad

The very day that it was time to leave for New Orleans for Jonathan and Kahran’s wedding, the call came from Trish’s brother that their father had died.  We had been keeping in close touch for several weeks as he was getting weaker.

So, I headed to the airport to fly to New Orleans while I left Trish to pack and today to fly to Detroit.

Trish’s parents, Ralph and Betty Jones were married 68 years and still living in their home in Lake Orion, Michigan where they had lived for more than fifty years.  He died at home with family as was his desire.

Sixty-eight years of marriage!

Mr. Ralph was born and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  It was there that he met Miss Betty when she came there from her home town of Poteau, Oklahoma, to go to nursing school at the old St. Joseph’s hospital.

They were married and had Trish and her three brothers while he had a full career of twenty years in the United States Navy.  After retirement, they moved to Lake Orion as the boys lived and worked nearby.  He became the Head Custodian at the new Pine Tree Elementary School, a position in which he helped raise hundreds of elementary school children while Betty continued her nursing career.

Ralph could fix almost anything: clocks and watches, locks and keys, most things mechanical.  He also gardened and kept bees at home.

My great treasure is that I got to join this wonderful family when Trish and I got married.  This includes her brothers, their wives, and their children and grandchildren as well as her dear parents.  My sadness is that I came along too late to know Mr. Ralph in the prime years of his life...I must depend on their stories!

The whole family in March of this year.

Turning Another Corner

Today I am flying to New Orleans for a quick weekend trip.  Our son, Jonathan, and his fiancée, Kahran, are getting married there tomorrow.  I was going to perform the ceremony, but, with my brain slightly undependable, Kahran’s Uncle will do that and I shall just get to be there.  It is good to have this little break/distraction before getting back home on Sunday evening.

Trish was going with me, but, yesterday morning the message came that her father had died in Lake Orion, Michigan.  He was ninety years old, as is her mother.  They were married 68 years.  So, instead of New Orleans for a wedding, Trish is headed to Michigan for family and funeral.  We will get back together at Cave Run at the end of next week.

Our house is almost all ripped out by now.  Next comes anti-bacterial sanitation and deep drying out. After that, we can begin to make plans for restoration.

Many people have asked about how they can help.  It is complicated because access to the island is very limited and there are no places to stay if you could get here.  If you have special thoughts or talents contact:
oracokedisasterrelief@gmail.com

The island has been divided into four zones with one of four organizations being responsible for each zone.  If you want to help them, here is the information about each of them:

Smaritanspurse.org

Baptistsonmission.org

Christianaidministries.org

Or email: twig@nccumc.org

You cannot bring anything to the island or come to the island without prior approved permission.

Thanks to everyone for continued support and concern!

The living room.  When the red piano goes, it will be all empty.

Wednesday’s Progress...

Two photos today will tell everything there is to tell about what is going on in our house, our hearts, and our lives.

This is our kitchen on April 30, 2018, the day the new remodel was finished and the kitchen was ready for its first use...seventeen months ago:

This is our kitchen this afternoon as Scott and Chris from the ServePro Team take it down past all the storm damage and bacterial pollution to the point at which we can start all over again:

We are much more fortunate than most of our neighbors on the island.

Dorian Recovery Progresses

Yesterday the insurance adjusters were able to get admission to the island.  We were assigned a wonderful couple, Taylor and Natalie Folkes, from a multi-generational family business in Kentucky. Taylor grew up learning from his father and his expertise, with Natalie’s partnership, is astounding.  They showed us things we would have never thought of.

When they finished it was time for ServePro to begin the tear-out of the house.  Our ServePro unit is from Cleveland, Ohio, and they are hardworking, efficient, and very personable and supportive.  Their leader, Andrew Myers, is so caring and thorough.  They will only do things the careful and right way.

Taylor determined that we had 54 inches of flood water.  It was Category 3 water, salt water polluted with sewage, gasoline, and diesel fuel.  Everything has to be removed from the ground up to four feet above floor level in the house.  As ServePro began the mitigation, they discovered that the insulation inside the walls was soaked and holding water two feet up inside the walls.

Our living room...the subfloor comes out next.

A little later in the day men arrived from the United Methodist Disaster Relief team from the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.  They are going to be the ones to cut out the fallen trees and remove those that are still leaning toward the house.

This big cedar tree starts in our yard but ends up on our neighbor’s house.

So, we are on the way.  Everything that could be repaired, restored, or saved (things above where water came) is now packed up on the second floor of the house.  We are happily living in the little garage apartment...we are so fortunate as most people have no place to live right now. The autumn weather is gorgeous and food for working.

Last. evening Michael Schramel of the the Flying Melon Restaurant made a huge quantity of jambalaya and he and Paula gave it away from the porch of the restaurant until it was all gone.we brought some to the workers at our house and also had some for ourselves.  Community wins once again!

Remembering Timpanogos

In the rush of getting home to deal with Hurricane Dorian, I have failed to say very much about the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival.  We were at Timpanogos when the news of the hurricane arrived and those lovely people cared for us with love and concern.

This was the thirtieth anniversary year for the Timpanogos Festival.  After outgrowing three locations, the Festival is now permanently settled in the amazingly gorgeous fifty-five acre Ashton Gardens, located at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah.  Lehi is less than an hour south of Salt Lake City making the Gardens themselves a wonderful escape outing apart from the Festival.

Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.

The line-up for this Thirtieth Anniversary Festival was outstanding,  I got to be there with Anne Rutherford, Bil Lepp, Motoko, Simon Brooks, Sheila Starks Phillips, Andy Hedges, Tim Lowry, Antonio Rocha, Carmen Deedy, Beth Ohlsson, and Barbara McBride-Smith as well as twenty-four Youth Tellers who kicked off most hours with their own stories.

Gathering in the Garden Amphitheatre for the evening Storytelling concert.

Since Utah is such a family centered culture, the Festival includes a lot of music around the edges and even puppetry and crafts like pottery making for the kids who need a break from listening.  The evening concerts in the Garden Amphitheatre also begin with a musical pre-show.

On Sunday morning, when the Festival is all over, the tellers are invited to go with several festival committee members up to Salt Lake City to the Mormon Tabeenacle Choir weekly television broadcast, Music and the Spoken Word. This is the longest running broadcast event in the world, having started on the radio in 1929 and now running on more than 2,000 television and radio outlets world wide.   After this beautiful event, we all get to have a final brunch together before everyone departs for home.  This was a perfect send off for us on our way back to our little island.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra performing at Temple Square.

If you are looking for a storytelling festival adventure to remember, check out the Timpanogos Festival.  It is the weekend after Labor Day each year.

Where’s FEMA?

At a time like this, we know even more clearly why we live where we do.  The whole community is together working and sharing every asset anyone has to go forward a day at a time.  We are also overwhelmed by the support and care that has poured on to the island once Dorian departed.

We are so fortunate: we have our camper to live in while work goes on.  We didn’t know our camping trip would continue at home.

Next-door Dare County, with damage of their own, has sent sheriff’s department personnel to handle traffic and support issues here.  We have seen fire department people from as far away as Charlotte and EMS vehicles from multiple counties as well as the state itself.

Faith Based organizations are overwhelming.  In one day after the storm, the Salvation Army was here offering three meals a day.  The Baptist Men in Mission have a huge presence with no limits on what they are doing from food to dirty labor. The United Methodist Disaster Relief teams are here; they came to our house yesterday with plans to cut trees and pull down wet insulation from under the house where it is nasty and soggy.  Samaritan’s Purse is here as well as a Billy Graham Reiief presence. These are just the start.  National Guard units are helping with lots of heavy work.

This is what our yard looks like.

Yesterday we were at the Fire House recovery headquarters getting some totes to pack possessions in; we have to move everything we want to save out of the first floor by Tuesday so it can be torn out by ServePro.  While we were there: a whole truck load of dehumidifiers arrives, a truck load of generators arrived. A truck loaded with fans and tarps arrived, more plastic totes arrived, more food arrived...it doesn’t stop.

Flood Insurance adjusters began arriving yesterday.  We have met with one adjuster and the other will be here Tuesday.

We keep finding unbelievable things: this good sized giraffe washed into our yard from somewhere.

The local question is: where is FEMA?  There is no FEMA presence on the island. Without acknowledging the rumors (there are many) we know that Governor Roy Cooper has met with the President and requested that we be named as a Disaster Area...a requirement in getting fund and physical help.  That is all we know. About half our residents have lost their homes and all possessions. I don’t know where those people are sleeping or how they are making it.

What do we do now:  work and wait and hope.  It is a wonderful place to live!

A rainbow yesterday afternoon frames the Baptist Men’s potable water truck.

Dorian Reality

We got home night before last and now all the reality is with us instead of second hand.

As soon as you approach the island there is a pervasive smell of wet decay.  Every breath is filled with this universal odor.  The worst thing is that the way our sense of smell works, in a little while you don’t notice it anymore.  Them you realize that it is still there but your mind has learned to ignore it.

Celeste and Melissa deliver the mail by hand out of the back of this van.  Packages are all under the tent.
UPS started delivery service on Monday...they are great!

The house and yard are worse than imagined.  One of our trees is on the neighbor’s house.  There are seven more trees that are uprooted and have to be removed.  (We are on the list.) We do have water now and we have some electricity in the house but not the garage apartment where we will need to live for a while. Right now we have a generator that is enabling us to live in the Airstream...what a dear blessing.

Our first view of our house.

ServePro came yesterday and determined that everything in the house, including the floors, up to two feet high is ruined and has to be ripped out.  Since the water was sewer and fuel polluted, everything under there has to be treated and dried before any repair can start.  All appliances are ruined, the kitchen ones only a year old.  For some strange reason the water heater works and we can get hot showers in the midst of it all.

This is the scene in front of nearly almost every home on the island.

The best thing is the community and all the volunteers that are here to help.  The island can’t hold any more volunteers as there is no place for them to stay...all the hotels are flooded.  Everyone is working and caring day and night.  The motto has become “Ocracoke Strong” as we all love and pull together.  Trish and I actually have everything we need...each other.  With that, though it is a long road, nothing can hurt us.

Strength and humor will get us through.

Almost Home

We started out from Utah on Sunday right after the Festival Tellers got to go to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Broadcast. We would not miss that treat both for the event itself and because it was our last chance to be with wonderful festival hosts and other tellers there.

After a fairly short drive Sunday (we were both zonked after that whole week) we camped in Vernal, Utah, for the night,  The next day we got down to the business of getting home and dealing with Hurricane Dorian.

I drove while Trish got on the phone and started talking with flood insurance people and ServePro for recovery mitigation.  Since our garage apartment/guest house is a separate building from the house, we have two flood insurance policies.  She spent about five hours in the phone Monday and the same amount on Tuesday and Wednesday,  I managed to drive about seven hundred miles each day so we got back to North Carolina last evening,

After loading up on supplies (new generator, new power washer, lots of bleach and detergent, gloves, masks, etc.) we got to the ferry by noon.  There was a huge line of relief vehicles...Baptist Men in Mission, United Methodist Relief, Red Cross, electricians, other residents just getting here...we could not get on the one o’clock ferry.  When the three o’clock ferry came, we were the last vehicle to be fitted on board!

Now we are almost to the island and anxious to get home and see  what is there.  Pictures will come tomorrow!

On the ferry at last!

Hurricane Dorian

Sorry to have not been posting.  Friday morning a huge storm surge hit Ocracoke village from the sound side as Hurricane Dorian connected with the island.

We are trying to get home.

Our news is that our house got water inside it as did our garage/guest house.

Water is now back on but there is no electricity.

The humanitarian help has been tremendous.  While there is no FEMA presence, private individuals, mainland businesses, and church organizations have embraced the island with food, materials, and labor.

When we are able to get back on the island, we will try to offer a picture of where things are now.

Thanks for all thoughts and prayers.

Any contributions should be directed to the Ocracoke Community Foundation, but I have no further information about that.

Utah Schools

This weekend will be the Thirtieth Annual Timpanogos Storytelling Festival.  During the days before the festival, several of us who will be telling at the festival are already here doing school visits.  I am here with Anne Rutherford, Bil Lepp, and Antonio Rocha.

Trish and I are with a fifth grade class.

We are going out to individual schools doing both performances and workshops for students and teachers.  I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in two elementary schools in Payson, Utah, and will continue the school visits next week after the Festival is over.

We have workshops as well as performances.

Yesterday all of the other Festival tellers arrived and today we had school children from third grade up to High School come here to the Festival site for a Storytelling field trip. We are told that by the time today is over more than eight thousand students will have had a storytelling performance this year through the Timpanogos Festival.

This has been a wonderful day and we all look forward to tomorrow.

Tetons Weekend

Trish and I just spent a wonderful Labor Day weekend in the Grand Tetons National Park camping at Colter Bay on Jackson Lake.

The first sighting of the Teton Range with Mount Moran and Grand Teton dominating the scenery always blows you away.  It is so very perfect it looks like a painting and it is so hard to realize that you are looking at magnificent reality.  We simply looked and looked trying to see it in many different angles of light and from many different viewing places.

Our first view of the Tetons.

We took a wonderful raft trip on the Snake River ten miles down from the Park toward Jackson.  This is a trip that we would recommend to anyone.  Being on the river with nothing between us and nature was timeless.

Bryan, our terrific
Snake River Guide.

We saw a coyote, thirteen bald eagles, and a moose on the trip, as well as many beaver trees and houses and a variety of ducks and geese.

The moose paid no attention to us.

Dear friends, Ted and Linda Parkhurst met us there for dinner.  It was sheer chance that we ended up near the same place at the same time and our visit was very dear.

When the weekend ended we left the Tetons and headed south to Lehi, Utah to get ready for the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival.

Our departing view.

In case you are worrying about our Ocracoke home during Hurricane Dorian, we are all closed up there and hope that the storm will skirt the island up through the Atlantic.  We have good neighbors looking out for us.  Stay tuned!