Raise the Roof

As 2 Live Crew says,

Everybody hold your hands high, wave them side to side
We're going to raise the roof and get this party alive.

We returned to the Wednesday site today and finished the job we started that day. That's right, we raised the roof for real. It was very exciting for a non-construction person like me to actually do something that made a demonstrable difference in the house's structural makeup. Here is the house before our work,

And here is the (nearly) completed roof,

My job was toe-nailing the right side of the trusses to the frame. Easy stuff really (but no nail guns so some physical effort involved). I learned cool tricks like putting in a guide nail (instead of chasing the truss all over the frame) and how to walk and work on the outside of the frame. And I was able to play some more Skil saw games as well!

On the human side,

• I met a soon-to-be-owner in Robin from Minnesota who has been in New Orleans for 3 years (so was only here a year before Katrina). Robin has really committed to New Orleans I think and it is cool to see her out here working and planning to live in Musicians Village. Living in the Upper Ninth Ward, Robin will be in the minority for the first time in her life I think.
• We heard about the Peters family -- married for 60+ years and done with the "sweat equity" time and their house is 2+ months away. 30+ grandchildren and great spirit and committed to rebuilding in New Orleans. If that doesn't make you smile, you aren't human.
  
• There was a young boy, maybe my daughter's age, riding his bike by our site today. He rode up and down the road, sometimes stopping for an hour to watch us work. Initially, I was amused but we realized he is probably the only kid in the area -- so he has no one to play with and a 20 foot long FEMA trailer to live in. He seemed happy, but it has to be hard to him. He should be hanging with his friends and playing -- not learning how to build houses.

Every day, there is hope and sorrow here.