Camp Aldersgate, RI - April/May 2012

View of Camp Aldersgate from cabins

Rhode Island, the smallest state in the Union, proved to me just how small it really is.  After spending six weeks in that beautiful state, it seemed I could drive in any direction and in minutes, I would be in either Connecticut or Massachusetts.  This was my first visit to New England, for any duration, that is.  I was surprised to see several differences from the rest of the country.

I arrived around the third week of April 2012 after spending the previous three months in Florida.  Since the nation had little winter this past season, Florida was too warm with high temperatures in the upper 80’s and 90’s.  I was anxious to head north and cooler weather.

Cooler weather, I found.  I also found the winter I missed in Florida.  For my first three weeks, it rained every week, not every day, and was downright cold.  It was a damp cold; one that chills you to the bone.  I appreciate winter, though.  I can always add more layers and become more active to ward off the cold.  Where it is warm, you can only take off so much before folks think you are strange.

The setting was wonderful.  I anticipated a crowded area, heavily populated as most of the east coast is.  I found wooded landscape that went for miles.  Lakes were everywhere, perhaps man-made, maybe not.  Stone walls were plentiful in the area too.  Some were obvious boundaries between properties and others ran their length deep into the woods.  There were a few farms, but mostly heavily wooded home sites hidden from the road.  Even schools seemed tucked away from public view with trees hiding the football fields and playgrounds.  As I arrived, winter was giving way to spring and all plant life turned a beautiful green.

The architecture of most homes and buildings is interesting.  I am certainly not an expert when it comes to describing architecture so I will not attempt that.  I can say, however, that whatever architecture is used, it is unique and, well, interesting.

I did not expect what I found in the people.  First, the local folks are very different from the Midwest and South.  My initial reaction was what an arrogant, self-centered, unfriendly people!  In time, I realized they are not necessarily that way.  They are just different.

I like to watch people.  During my free time, I found a viewing point where I could relax and casually watch the people go about their lives.  My observations included many aspects of life.  The people did not seem to care for their own safety.  They seemed negative, almost unhappy, rarely smiling, rarely greeting others who passed their way.  The few that I interacted with talked without pronouncing their r’s, which I guess is called a ‘Boston’ accent.  Even the newscasters spoke that way.  In all, the people of that area seem to be self-centered, inconsiderate, void of social grace, and arrogant.

One interesting point about the local news out of Boston is that they displayed what I would call a snobbish coverage of local weather.  Though the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island are closely wrapped by Massachusetts, the Boston weather reports would not include temperatures in Providence and other cities in close graphical proximity.  Odd, I thought.

I learned that some of the local residents rarely travel, some having never left the state of Rhode Island.  Though some of the locals were interested in visitors, most did not want to converse.  Again, odd.

The site where I worked for six weeks was a nice summer camp tucked away from a country road.  Camp Aldersgate had been there for quite a while.  It had a nice lake with nice amenities of a summer camp.  My job for the entire time was to help install bathrooms in three cabins.  This included removing built-in bunk beds, installing doors in the rear of the cabins, framing walls and doors, cutting through concrete for plumbing and later finishing the floor, and assorted tasks related to finishing the bathrooms.  I resolved that due to irregular progress by the contracted plumber, our group did not accomplish more than we did.

I stayed for two three-week periods starting in mid-April, through the end of May.  As the Lord progresses with my exposure to working with tools in ways that I have only dreamed, He blessed me with two great leaders.  Both leaders allowed me to help build bathrooms by cutting through six inches of concrete floor, dig trenches for water and sewer pipes, frame walls and doors, and install doors and ceiling vents.  I grew in confidence and ability, thanks to these two men and the other wonderful team members.  I was especially appreciative of my team members, women and men.  With every NOMADS project, I am amazed with the quality of faithful Christians, the friendship and helpfulness, and companionship.  There is no wonder why I love working with NOMADS.

One fascinating aspect of my visit was the geese that appeared to have taken up residence around the lake.  In particular, two geese had five chicks.  They were probably days old when I arrived but seemed to grow quickly.  I noticed that one of the five was smaller and slower.  I noticed that the parents were very attentive to the four larger ones, but ignored the little one.  Letting nature take its course, the small one disappeared.  Over the six weeks of my visit, the four small chicks were soon half the size of their parents.  The parents were very protective, keeping the babies between them as they crossed the dirt road, swam across the lake to an isolated island, or grazed in the yard.  It was very fascinating to watch one of the parents (I could not tell the mother from the father) fly around the lake and land in front of the babies.  I suspect he (or she) was teaching them to fly.  Very cool to watch!

I enjoyed my stay at Camp Aldersgate.  I will consider returning in the future, perhaps for only the usual three-week period.  Six weeks got a little long, or perhaps I got an itch to travel when the first period was up and most of my team members moved on to their next destination.  Still, it was good.  I thank the Lord for having me learn more about people, this world, and how I serve Him.

During the evenings I tried to learn to play a guitar

Talking with the Camp directors

Cutting through 6" of concrete floor

Family of geese when I arrived in April

Sunset view over Lake Aldersgate

Framing 101 with my coworker

One of the three cabins under renovation

Gittin 'er plum

A rear window becomes a door

Women on the team finished the door

Heading back to my trailer for lunch

Rare sight of turtle laying eggs

Family of geese at end of my stay

One of the two teams I worked with, good folks

Fruitland Park, FL - March 2012

Sunset at the Life Enrichment Center, Fruitland Park, FL

As I departed Delray Beach for the more temperate (cooler) northern Florida, I set off a couple of those insect ‘bombs’ in my trailer.  This was my attempt to void the lease apparently set in place by some local inhabitants, emphasize ‘ants’, on my trailer.  During my three-week stay in the warm (e.g., dang hot) southern Florida, many unrelated ants moved in on me.  They were everywhere; not perhaps as numerous as one might think, but certainly more than one, which to me is abundance.  In any amount, they were not welcomed in my home!  Upon arriving at the Life Enrichment Center, Fruitland Park, I could not find any hidden, or not so hidden, stowaways that resembled ants.  Good deal.

The United Methodist Church maintains two facilities near Fruitland Park, FL.  One is the Life Enrichment Center, where I parked my trailer.  The other, located across the road, is the Warren W. Willis Camp, where I was to work for my three-week project.  I liked this area of the world.  It was beautiful, peaceful, quiet, and situated on a lake with lots of trees around.  I found a nature walk around the Life Enrichment Center and used that frequently to meditate, talk with God, and get a little exercise.  Some young boys and girls from Canada were staying at the Camp and using the lake to train in sculling for the Olympics.  Occasionally, I would see them on the lake or walking around the Camp.  It was a peaceful place for them too.

The weather was wonderful; if not a little too warm for what I thought should have been winter.  Clear blue skies, gentle breezes, moss hanging from tall trees, and no traffic noises made this place one to remember and return to when the opportunity arises.  On the down side, insects abound.  Every evening spiders spun webs on and around just about everything.  Caterpillars spun cocoons on my outdoor chairs and trailer wheels.  Small tree frogs found refuge in little nooks and crannies of my trailer and came alive in the evening by sending loud, low noises to do little more than freak me out as I tried to settle in for the evening.  Overall, I loved the place during my short visit.

The people were gracious and delightful.  Most of those whom I came in contact were affiliated with the Methodist Church or involved in mission work, which I believe tends to attract the nicer of the nice.  As I usually do when I spend a few days with a group of NOMADS, I found my coworkers and hosts to be great people.  The leader of our group reminded me of a crusty, old sailor who had spent his life sailing the seas of the world, seeking high adventure, risking his life to fulfill his passion, and dealing with those he encountered by displaying a seemingly harsh outer shell only to reveal his passionate love and concern for others just under the surface.  He allowed me to explore new challenges, expand my skills, and contribute in a way I had not seen in any prior NOMADS project.  All members of the team offered me friendship, caring, and helpful advice to help me fulfill my part in God’s plan.

Two things about Florida I find interesting are few diners and a good grocery store.  I love to find small, country diners where a person can get a good, home-cooked meal.  I do not always favor cooking a well-balanced meal for myself so I tend to seek out local restaurants.  I prefer to find something local, not a chain.  In my mind, chain restaurants have food manufactured in some faraway place, packaged in a plastic bag, and then reheated after the customer orders that particular dish.  No, I would rather eat a dish cooked as I order it.  Perhaps, in reality, the dish is not cooked as I order it, but ignorance is bliss, as someone once said.  As I traveled through Florida for the first three months of 2012, I found it hard to find a local, ‘unchained’ diner.  Perhaps they are out there; I just could not find them.

The second thing is the good grocery store.  Publix is located throughout Florida and it offers a good selection of fresh foods, canned foods, and the like.  The one thing I found particularly favorable is Publix caters to families and the single person as well.  I look for small servings, whether fresh or packaged foods.  Publix seemed to offer that type of packaging as well as variety.

The work I encountered on this project was different from my other projects.  Similar in many respects, but different in that the work allowed me to learn new skills or enhance ones that I had already.  I joined others to clean out a storage area built of concrete block.  We removed old iron-cased windows, cut a door through a cinder block wall, installed strips for mounting drywall, and wired for lights and computers.  Other members of the team installed a suspended ceiling and painted the area.  When we finished, the room went from a stark storage room to a presentable office area.

A highlight was building what is apparently called a Gaga Dodge-ball Arena.  I did not come up with that name and I am not sure if it relates in any way to some lady singer by a similar name.  It is an octagon-shaped wall, three feet high, and about thirty feet across.  I am not familiar with the nature of the game, so I cannot explain it here.  We started with a drawing obtained from an Internet site and a pile of lumber.  I was happy to be part of the decision-making process in determining how to build what we fondly called the ‘greased pig pit.’  I enjoyed using the tools I am still accumulating, and learning HOW to use them.  It was a great experience.

A member of our team has some great artistic abilities.  In another building, she painted a massive mural of a coastal scene with birds and grasses.  Among the grass is hidden a small frog.  She later challenged the team to find the frog.  During a visit with my lovely daughter, who joined me in some hard searching, we finally found the frog.

The two facilities in Fruitland Park offer two separate NOMADS projects.  This location is one where I would gladly return should the Lord be graceful to send me there.

Along the lake at the Life Enrichment Center

At the end of the Silent Trail, Life Enrichment Center

Wonderful serenity

View from the Warren W. Willis Camp

Nature Trail, Life Enrichment Center

Place of Contemplation, Life Enrichment Center

Entrance to Life Enrichment Center

Cabins at Warren W Willis Camp

My campsite - with full hookups

Trench I helped dig for electric line

Making doorway through cinder block wall

Installing strips for hanging drywall

Former storage room amid remodeling

Delray Beach, FL - February 2012

My third NOMADS Project in 2012 brought me farther south to Delray Beach, FL.  Yes, I am about a mile from the Atlantic Ocean, a nice walk on a breezy evening.  On the down side, I prefer a cooler climate and this far south is downright hot.  In late February, it should be cooler than the high 80’s, wouldn’t you think?  Complain and jab all you want, northerners, but your sour attempts at playful humor are lost on me.  I like a little winter with my seasons.

Like most NOMADS projects, this one was quite different from the other preceding projects.  The team is small – seven folks spread across four ‘homes’ of four very different sizes and shapes.  I had the only fifth-wheel trailer, in fact the only ‘trailer’ of any type.  The other three were motor homes ranging from small to mega.  Four RV’s crowded into a small corner lot in a residential community.  Our water source was on one side of the lot and electric on the other.  I was given the opportunity to park nearest the only sewer outlet – yeah, the smell – but close to the electrical panel.  I should also mention that I parked near the only spot of tall grass, which prided itself on giving unrestrained access to my trailer for millions of tiny ants.  Florida is wonderful, to some maybe.

I find the people in this area of the world to be somewhat ruder than most areas of the country where I have visited.  This has been quite a change from the good folks of Ruston, LA.  I do not know the reason but I will bet it is related to the constant heat.  Drivers tend to honk for the least of reasons, or none.  Shoppers have not learned the courtesy of returning their shopping cart to a collection point, preferring to leave the cart either in an empty parking space or the driveway between them.  Some of the local folk who have the money to spend on reverberating equipment that blasts deep bass sounds for blocks around, which apparently is akin to the loud rock and roll music of years gone past, than they have on hearing aids that will certainly be required of them in future years.

I learned that many homeless people come here for the warm temperatures during the winter months.  One particular ‘customer’ of the soup kitchen was a thirty-two year old man from Chicago.  He was in Florida this time of the year for the warm climate.  At the downturn of the nation’s economy, he lost his job as an electrician.  His truck followed along with the tools of his trade, and then his home and family.  He could find no work and became homeless.  As the cold winter months approached – that only folks in Chicago know all too well -- he too headed south.  The past weekend he intended to head back to Chicago and find work.  I wish him well.  May the Lord guide that young man and help him regain his life.

As you guessed by now, our team worked at a soup kitchen that served the homeless and disadvantaged in Delray Beach.  No, not serving food or even preparing it.  We repaired and maintained the facility that housed the kitchen.

This NOMADS team was a little different from what I have grown accustomed.  Team cohesion, individual desires, passive leadership, and organization (both from the sponsor and team leader) contribute to an awkward environment.  I woke most mornings not knowing what lay ahead, not that I needed that of course, but there was no objective in the workday.  One my first day, upon arriving at the worksite after our devotional period, I asked what was on the agenda for the day.  No one knew.  The leader, for whatever reason, could not find the words or abilities to direct the team.  Frustrating, for sure.  By group dynamics and ‘committee decision’, we arrived at the need to paint the exterior of the building.  Ok, first we were to power wash the building.  However, wait, before we can power wash, we need to trim a hedge, mow grass next to the building, clip branches from trees, clean vines from one side, and fix loosely hanging telephone or electrical wires.  All right, where are the tools?  What?  No one anticipated the need for tools?  Oh, we had a power washer on loan.  What about lawn mower, clippers, and the like?

The week before we arrived a volunteer who was to help with maintenance coordination had fallen from a ladder and hurt his back.  Nothing broken, thank the Lord, but he was sore enough, and perhaps smart enough, to stay off his feet for a few days.  By telephone, he offered to supply a few tools.  I was the only team member with a truck so I volunteered to find the guy’s house and pick up the tools.  I was successful in doing that, and had a wonderful hour or so meeting and talking with the delightful man.  He was one of the few really kind Floridians.  He gave me directions for a short-cut back to the soup kitchen and with my ever keen sense of direction, it only took me an hour or so of wandering through the local community, up and down streets, and around curves only to find myself back near his house.  I turned my initial directions upside down and returned the way I had taken to arrive at his house.  It worked.

With the right tools, we set about preparing the exterior walls for washing.  This part of our project was to take two days.  We finished everything by noon on our first day, including my tour of Delray Beach.  Over the next two days, we put two coats of paint on the exterior and had most of the interior painted.

We went on to lay what the locals called pavers in two sections beside a newly laid concrete walkway.  The leader would simply acknowledge that laying pavers was one of our tasks so the other two men, apparently thinking a little fast than I, elected me to do that task.  Not a bad deal on my part, I grant you.  It kept me from painting the ceiling in the kitchen.  On the down side, I worked out by the back door where all the ‘customers’ of the soup kitchen gathered to be let in and fed.  Needless to say, I had more supervisors and technical advisors than I needed.  Patience as my guide, I endeavored to persevere and casually laid the stone slabs in sand in a fashion that suited me although I was advised quite none too passively that I was doing it wrong.  I enjoyed the banter, nevertheless, and I think the audience did too.

If that was not enough for the daily gathering of smiling and rather loud onlookers, the soup kitchen staff asked me to distribute two large piles of sand around the facility.  Our team suggested they try to sell the sand or at least advertise it free, but no.  They wanted it spread through the grass – not dumped in yet another pile but spread in such a way as to let the grass grow through it.  The gathering crowd once again delighted in advising me on the right way to spread sand.  More than once I offered my shovel to anyone of them, but that did not work, and neither would they.  Again, I enjoyed the banter nevertheless.

Our team succeeded in painting the building inside and out, stripping and waxing the floor, cleaning the furniture, and repairing tables.  Not being a people-person, generally, I enjoyed interacting with the people around the soup kitchen.  Conversely, I did not enjoy the lack of leadership on this project or the constant heat when I expect a cooler winter.  I know, of course, that the Lord gives his children opportunities to explore the spiritual gifts that he bestows upon them.  I thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity to exercise my patience and compassion.

Soup Kitchen

Back of Building

Power washing

Laying patio stone

Stripping wax

The NOMADS Team

Sunset over Delray Beach

Eustis, FL - January/February 2012

2012, the start of my second year of projects for United Methodist NOMADS; serving the Lord by helping others.  Last year, beginning in January, I scheduled my first three projects alternating with a three-week break between projects.  I learned my lesson then.  I quickly found myself returning to West Virginia between projects and putting many unnecessary miles on my trailer.  This year, I booked four projects back to back, which would take me away from West Virginia for three months.  This was a test to see how I would like being on the road for a long period.

My first and second projects brought me to the Hearts and Hands Ministry in Eustis, FL.  From January 8 through February 17, I was at the same location for six weeks.  The team leaders changed with each project and all but one couple changed.  Since one delightful couple scheduled Projects #1 and #2, I had good company throughout the stay.  The team for the first project brought four couples from the same church.  I believe they were all from Illinois.  They were a nice group of folk and reminded me of my family in Oklahoma.

For the first time in my two years with the NOMADS and six projects, friends from one of my previous NOMADS projects joined me.  First, I should say that technically speaking the delightful couple that stayed over for a second project is included in this distinction.  Outside of them, a couple from Hawaii (yes, they travel in an RV full time and no, I do not know how they drove it across the Pacific Ocean) who worked with me at the Boy’s Ranch in Gore, OK, joined me in Eustis, FL.  It was great to see them again.

After living 20+ years in a marriage where me having my own friends was somewhat challenging, I am SO happy to now have friends of my own.  That might sound rather strange, and if it does, well, so be it.  In any event, I have made such great friends through NOMADS and the locations my adventures have brought me.  I have great friends in Florida, Maine, Michigan, South Dakota, and all across the country.  I guess the NOMADS is something of a ‘country club’ where I can meet people, enjoy their friendship, and share the love of Christ, all at the same time.  It’s great!

Ok, back to the NOMADS projects.  My first two projects brought me to Eustis, FL, to serve with the Hearts and Hands Ministry.  The Ministry offers food pantry, thrift store, and outreach in the local community for home repair.  My work was mostly in home repair.

Our first task was to paint the exterior of a storage trailer.  The trailer, like one a semi pulls across the country, was full of lumber, paint, and home repair ‘stuff’.  The team leader divided us into small groups for each task.  I was in charge of painting the trailer.  We had the paint, supplies, and workers.  We first power-washed the trailer, which was done in short order.  Next the painting.  However, my first challenge was deciding who could get up on top of the trailer to paint a black trim.  Surprisingly, a man from another task came by to get supplies from the trailer.  Next thing I know he is climbing a ladder, before anyone else could hold it for him, and he is on the roof leaning over the side and painting trim.  Oh, he is the oldest team member at 84 years.  Makes me wonder why the people in the church I attend in West Virginia say they are too old for mission work and they are in their late 60’s and early 70’s.  Well, the Lord does not call everyone to do mission work.

We got the trailer painted, after a fashion.  Most of our painting group dispersed to other tasks of higher priority.  One very nice touch was lettering on the side that gave tribute to NOMADS and Hearts and Hands.  My neighbor, a very nice woman from Illinois, did the lettering and artwork.  She has real talent.  She also amazed me by telling me she had retired at 67 from her job as a nurse some years before.  Geez, I thought, you don’t even look like you’re 60!

A significant surprise during the first project was my daughter visited for the day and worked with the team.  (To do this, she had to join NOMADS officially.  So, she may well be the youngest NOMADS member!)  She lived about 30 miles away and blessed me with a visit.  It was wonderful seeing her.

Another wonderful thing that happened during my first project was a visit from a couple I met while serving at the Outdoor Wilderness Learning Center, Louisiana Children’s Home, near Ruston, LA.  As it turns out, the couple from Maine is good friends with one of the couples on the team.  They stopped by to visit.  We had a short but wonderful time talking about what each of us was doing and sharing a few laughs.  It was so good to see them.  I learned that they had been following my ‘progress’ in NOMADS and encouraged me to become qualified as a NOMADS Team Leader.

Another NOMAD and I worked on siding of a woman’s home.  The structure had been her grandmother’s home and was now in dire disrepair.  I could tell the original siding was wood, now covered by weathered shingles.  We wanted to tear off all the siding and replace it but we were only able to make repairs, not remodeling, and replacement was considered by someone as remodeling.  We had a little difficulty finding anything solid to put a screw into so we used four-inch screws hoping to find something solid.  Though it took nearly three weeks, we managed to put new siding on the north and south sides.  The woman who lived there, who was a grandmother herself, was very happy.

The second project gave me an opportunity to go where man, well at least this man, has never gone before, and that is up on a roof.  One of the homes in the area was to be painted.  It also had a hole in the roof.  No one was anxious to volunteer to do the job, so I did.  I had been on a roof only once before and that was within the past year when I helped a friend in my home church repair a roof in our neighborhood.  He taught me so much, including the confidence to climb to the top of the world, well, the top of the roof.  Now, my team leader and I ventured upon the roof.  Here I was, with my new tool belt but otherwise void of any sense of confidence, standing on a slanted roof trying to appear as if I had some slight idea of why in the world was I up there, fixing to take off some old shingles and examine the hole beneath them.  After minimal guidance from my friendly pro, I was soon removing shingles, cutting out wood and replacing it with new wood, covering it with tarpaper, and replacing old shingles with new.  Very cool!  Now, I can say I do roofs.  (Thanks, friend in Hedgesville.)

Another task involved hooking up a sewer line from a house to the main sewer at the street.  One of the three of us on that task was a retired plumber.  I later learned that he was at least as old as my dad would have been.  His demeanor intimidated me.  Perhaps it was because I wanted to learn or whatever the reason, he calmly instructed me on what to do each step of the way.  The third man and I hand-dug a trench from the edge of the house to the street.  One challenge was an open hole in the front yard where the septic tank was overflowing with raw sewage.  Not daunted by such trivial challenges, we dug the trench, lay the pipe as the seasoned plumber fixed the connections, and later covered it all up.  This was the second, ‘Very cool!’

At that same house, I helped install three ceiling fans, a kitchen cupboard, and a hood over the stove.  I had the occasion to do some electrical work for the first time.  Third, ‘Very cool!’

Over the course of six weeks, I was able to do many things that I had never done before.  The team leader was great in letting me experience and learn, and use my own tools.  This was a great double-project.  It brought me from being rather uneducated in carpentry to at least knowing how to know what a soffit is, how to fix one, and the confidence that I can do it.  The Lord blessed me greatly by bringing me to these projects and putting the right people in my path.  Wonderful!  Praise the Lord!

Former Methodist Church where we camped

Trailer ready for painting

Power-washing the trailer

Painting on a nice day

First house - installing new siding

Seeing how the new siding looks

Caulking and painting the finished siding

Lake Eustis