From Holy Ground to the Goats -Mike Simonich

Today was my first full day in the city of New Orleans and I was not quite sure what to expect. This is my first year down with the group and really the day started with a lot of excitement. Our first main stop of the day after breakfast was into the lower ninth ward, the area reported to have had up to anywhere from 12 to 25 feet of water covering the land during Hurricane Katrina. Having never really seen the devastation that filled the city I had no idea what to expect. The first real haunting image I saw was a house boarded shut, so untouched after all these years the board was peeling out from the doorway, but spray painted on the board was the words "HOLY GROUND". This was so striking to me, even after all these years the people have left this board as a message, as to say, "This is our Holy Ground. The land beneath your feet is the land provided by God and come Hell of high water, Holy Ground it will remain. A slight ray of standing hope amidst all the devastation.
     When we had finally arrived down into the lower 9th where the levy is I was struggling to wrap my mind around really how much water could have caused so much damage, especially standing up on the levy seeing as the water was on the horizon harmless and picturesque. But as we walked through the rebuilding community and the Brad Pitt houses, I couldn't help but feel a tad bit off. While clearly this area had seen some turbulent times to say the least, it didn't have a real community vibe, it still felt like people were isolated and recovering and it didn't help that the streets were seemingly barren on a albeit cold, but still sunny day. We were all lead to a man named Robert Greene's house who had become a main figure in the Lower 9th. He came outside and this was where the real vision of all of the damage struck me. Robert Greene had lost two of his family as they were trying to evacuate their house, swept away by a 15 foot wall of water where they clung to a tree branch and drowned just two blocks over. This was haunting because as a lifeguard all I look at all day is water, the deepest being 12 feet. to imagine even more than that, carrying waste and sweeping someone away was all I could picture, It really put into perspective that while water is a very fun thing it can also be one of the most dangerous forces of nature. While he very well could have moved away, gotten away, He chooses to live in the lower 9th, a daily reminder of the tragedy that the storm thrusted upon him. Yet, he wasn't angry, he thanked us over and over, and proceeded to tell us how full of joy he was that we were there helping, and that if he were to die today, he would be happy since there are people like us in the world helping and rebuilding still.Yet This was the single most humbling thing I have heard in my entire life, to see someone so happy that a bunch of teenagers could come down and help for a week.
      When we were all done there I ended up at Blaire Grocery for my workshop for the day,and after the great experience of getting toured around and learning the history of the place, we set off to work. My first job was shrouded from me at the beginning, I was told "It's time to go feed the goats and chickens". So me and two others did just that, however what i didn't expect was next, we loaded in two wheelbarrows and pitchforks and were told, "time to clean the pen". So we did just that, so we dug deep shoveled out goat shit, and since the goats didn't want to eat, the gored us while we shoveled it all and were stuck in the smell which was rancid. While that may sound kinda bad and overall it was kinda bad it was eye opening. It was astounding to see that a bunch of people, get up early in the morning, set about this work that others really don't want to do, and don't complain and stick through it and work their hands down til they are calloused over and rough and work until the light fades, go to bed and do it all over again the next day. A rewarding life to be sure but a tough one none the less. For someone to choose that life was just baffling but I can understand it I think somewhere in me. Because it really isn't about you at that point and what job you are doing be it shoveling shit or picking weeds, It's about the fact what you are doing is providing for your community, your economy, your town, state, county and environment and our earth. You're such a tiny cog in the grand spinning machine, yet without them, the rest crumbles and rust and falls to ruin. A starkly different experience to gardening at North Middlesex. Looking back on it though, after it's all said and done I wouldn't change a thing about it.