TOBY CALLED this morning, just a few minutes ago!
While his spirit remains GOOD, he said the smell of death dominates the air, and that ABC news and the Bush bashing has him livid. He's getting fearful that the body count might exceed estimates.
500,000 pounds of shrimp are rotting, not to mention untold pounds of chicken in what was once a processing plant.
I guess the looting continues, because he said to tell y'all that he now has a sign that says " ONE OLD MAN, ONE OLD SHOTGUN " and thus far, no takers.
Mail has been stalled again, with a promise of delivery next week, but they're prepared to go pick up mail if this recent promise falls through.
I still couldn't get him to reveal any needs they might have... he just continuosly wants y'all to know how much each one of us mean to him and how thankful he is for our individual and collective friendship. His humility gets me teary eyed every time
His poor son in law is most concerned about not having a job. He's dying to get to work SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE, ASAP.
The neighbors remain banded together, and Toby said there's a commaderie of family in staying close, as in "love is making your shower available to your neighbor."
Toby said we aren't to worry about them (easier said than done). He also told me he someone shared gasoline with him, and asked me about our gasoline availability here. (Couldn't find ANY open stations yesterday).
I wish my report could be more uplifting. I am only trying to be accurate. They're OK, but we know "pioneer living" has to be getting old FAST.
I think I'll go have a short cry now.
Blessings to eyerybody.
Building will commence - cleanup jobs and construction jobs will be available - not tomorrow, but relatively soon - within a month, I would guess. Toby's son-in-law will find opportunity knocking in many ways, and it sounds as if he is keeping his ears ready to hear the knock. Make sure to remind them of this when you next hear from Toby - it sounds like they may need to hear it.
Thank you so much for sharing the news about Toby.
(((onyx)))
Thank you for sharing that info from Toby. Just imagining the hardships that lovly man is enduring brings on tears. I surely hope that my pkg. in the mail will get to him soon. I squeezed in as much as the box would hold.
When we went into the area from which the flood waters from Hurricane Floyd had just receded after 9 days, the sights were awful but the smell was indescribably horrific. I will never forget it. I guess it's the one thing that takes us more by surprise than anything else because we get no inkling of it from tv coverage. I won't go into detail about the various causes of the stench out of consideration of those with weak stomachs but it is truly a ghastly soup out of satan's own kitchen. Prayers for those who are living with it for now and days/weeks to come
onyx ~~~ is there anything that you need? Please let us know.
Thankyou for the report onyx. Rotting shrimp and chicken, ugh!
Did we ever decide if/how we were going to send some help down Toby's way?