Well, we've made it as far as Meridian. This morning, we thought the car/transmission* was dying, which would have been a perfect (and perfectly reasonable) excuse to scrap this trip, or put it off and try to think of some other way to help in the meanwhile, but even I was surprised at my determination and willingness to try, even in the face of something that scary. We talked about back-up plans, car rescue, etc. and then hit the road anyway. There's a quote from Color Purple that basically sums up my feelings about trying to make this trip - "Nothing but death could keep me from  it."
Chris is back home, calling the volunteer orgs and setting up meetings, getting contact info, writing up lists of questions for interviews, finding us campsites and generally smoothing the way for us. We'd be lost without him. We have plans and ideas, and he is helping us make those happen. Neither Q nor I are the most socially adept people sometimes, and it is such a blessing to have someone like Chris doing the initial interfacing for us. He's a pro, and it shows. Now we just have to carry the ball.
We're scared to death, of what we might find, of facing the physical reality of this, of not achieving our goals (or anything else), of being hurt or any of the other million things that can happen on a journey like this, but it doesn't matter. This is what we can do at this point to help, and dadgummit, we're going to do it. Short term goals like this trip AND long term goals, like building a strong platform for hair boom contributions and building in our area. Quincy is seriously considering taking a full-time long term job here, so I might even have to go it alone after the first leg of the trip. It's amazing how something like this can galvanize someone who has otherwise been so un-ambitious, as far as finding a life purpose, a single effort worth giving your all to. I have NEVER been one to consider my future very far in advance - it has only been in the last few years that I could consider a future longer than a few weeks away. But here I am, trying to find out exactly how I can best be of use to this cause, and as far as I can tell, this is not something that will be 'fixed' in my lifetime, so as far as I am concerned, this is a lifetime commitment. Today really is the first day of the rest of my life. And as scary and depressing as that seems, it sure as hell beats sticking my head in the sand and trying my best to pretend that this isn't happening until reality smacks me in the face and "surprises" me with the truth of it all. I choose to meet my destiny head on, I will not just turn my head and wait for the axe to fall.
Tomorrow we head to New Orleans, and to eventual meetings with some of the other people who are passionate about trying to make a difference in the face of this disaster. I believe that, at the very least, we can help bring awareness to these organisations and their needs. That would not be a failure. But if we can do more, any more, and keep doing it, and encourage others to do so as well, then that will = success.
The only way I can truly fail in this is just to give up, and frankly, I would not survive that, so there is simply no room for failure.
I pray with all my heart that there are others out there who feel this way too, and that I can meet some of them, introduce them to each other, and help make this web of action and support as strong and wide-spread as it can be. It is the only way we are going to be able to handle the inevitable results of this tragedy. I refuse to give up hope that I will see our home beaches white once again before I die. And even if that doesn't happen, I will work until I can't anymore, and hope that the children of the next generation will see that, even if I don't. I refuse to pretend that it's someone else's problem, that someone else will take care of it all. I know I'm not alone in this, and I promise you, you aren't either.
-s


"Be the change you want to see in the world." - M. Gandhi




*we drive ANCIENT primitive beamers, and one of the charming flukes of my Molly (Black Molly Wainright)
is a tendency to act as if the transmission is dying, possibly even dead if we let the transmission fluid get too low. scary, but hey, we've gotten this far! (knock wood)


this is post #411. 4/11 was Luna's birthday.