Pics and Memorial Day Weekend

Some pictures from last week:

Here I am with Pete, on the left, a Habitat staffer from Lincoln, NE who did contracting work in the Twin Cities for a long time; Helen, in the center, a cellist who's porch we are posing on, Seth, a Habitat employee who did some growing up in Denison, IA, before heading to Arizona and then to New Orleans, and in the second row with me, Brian, a Harley-riding, sailor-mouthed Habitat employee.



Here is Nat's house, which I worked on this week raising the roof trusses you see here. Nat is a catastrophe nsurance claims adjuster during the hurricane season and plays trombone with the Crescent City Players during most of the year.



Here are most of the houses I've been working on the last few weeks...



And here is the other half of the block, showing what they'll look like when they are (close to) done.



Here is Alvar Street, the heart of Musicians' Village. Every home is a Habitat home.



This weekend I was fortunate enough to have opportunities to see some sights outside of New Orleans. A bunch of Habitat employees drove to the beach in Biloxi, MS, on Friday night, where we swam, played football and frisbee, slept under the stars, and returned Saturday morning. Sunday I went with a few friends to Slidell, MS, for a cook-out... and a chance to wakeboard for the first time in about 3 or 4 years. Both trips were a lot of fun and it was nice to see some southern sights outside of New Orleans.

Today my friend Zach's roommate invited me to a crawfish boil, and I was able to bring my friend Catherine and her brother and sister, who had never been to a boil before. We ate lots of crawfish (check out the picture), tried to catch little lizards in the sun, and had a watermelon seed spitting contest. I followed it up with an appropriate visit to the D-Day Memorial Museum with Zach. I had been in February but was unable to finish it, as it is an extensive collection. I'm going to need to return again still!