Cleaning up and surviving

 On January 6, apparently some people take down all their Christmas decorations, as it's Epiphany for them...or 12th day of Christmas. I never learned about that custom until recently.

Today we expect to have snow dumped upon us, like many other places along "Cora's" path. And it will be over in the night, only to have another clear but cold weekend...perhaps by Monday melting will begin. There is plenty of food and water in this Helene-survivor's home, but the electricity which keeps me warm is the big question mark, always with any storms in the mountains. It's hard for crews to get out on the icy roads and climb to repair downed lines...and I sure feel empathy when they do! So I hope there is continuing electricity from nicely intact wires everywhere!

This week I have been cleaning a bit, and am so glad that there's a laundry available provided by some non-profit, I keep meaning to ask what the initials stand for.

 

I'd guess 20 washers and 20 driers...with lots of folding tables and a few chairs. They put out a notice at the end of December that if people weren't using them, they would be closing the facility.

When I arrived last week, I had to wait a bit for my third washer. And the attendant (volunteer?) took someone's quilt out of a drier so I could use it. They are very good over size machines, but it takes about an hour on high to dry just one load...and I noticed this morning one pair of slacks had shrunk in length...and they had been one of my favorite pairs. Drat. My slacks are either falling down, too long, or now too short.

It's like a small city, with three rows of these white trailers which perform different functions. The ones on the right are toilets. They are chemical ones, with the pedal on the floor.

This row is showers, each with it's own room. They provide  soap, shampoo and towels as needed. The other big tent on the right is a recreation room, which I didn't go into. On the far end on the right is the laundry tent. It's such a great production, but I didn't see many using anything but the laundry.

They do have wi-fi, which wasn't being provided by our local companies right after  the disaster, having gone out with cell-towers, electricity and water. Star-link was the only way we could use wi-fi, by going to a place that had it. I would guess these folks had it too.

I wonder if they'll all leave together. Probably.

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I do have a pay laundry room here at the apartments, which should be my first choice, with 4 washers and driers. It is mostly kept clean by whoever uses it, and I have had good experiences there. But if I can have free and it doesn't take much more effort to haul the basket into the car as into the laundry room, guess where I go as my own choice?

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What survivors of Helene look like on Jan 2, 2025. Many RV's and sheds have become dry and windproof places for shelter. There are Tiny Homes, and tiny somethings by FEMA...all of which makes me wonder if people have a change of clothes, bedding, ways to keep clean and whatever bathroom systems they have devised, a few pots pans, dishware and food stuffs, and there are 2-4 people in their shelter, how do they manage? I guess it's warm and dry, so there is that. If they are hooked up to elec. that helps, but many have bottled gas for cooking and heating. All these refugees from the hurricane, living in the mountain communities, they don't want to be forgotten. Some want to work, some want help to repair their original housing, and some want to find new places to live permanently. In the cold days and nights, I wonder how they are spending their time.

Some of these people helped set up this camper, and I'm not sure how many are to live in it.

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From a Facebook Post in Burnsville NC. (Just up the mountain roads from where I live)

We met up with a lifelong friend today at DT's Blue Ridge Java to make a plan. We collectively agreed, we needed to get some things done. Sugar free vanilla latte. Ooey gooey bar. It's all about balance.

As we walked in, we met another friend. As usual, the "you doin' ok? " conversations began. She emphatically answered

"No. You? "

We discussed her desperation to find someone a place for a camper. He is scheduled to be homeless by Friday. Literally homeless. Hotel vouchers have run out.

You know how many folks are still right here, in that exact same situation?

Another friend came in. "Hey! You doin' ok?

"No. You? I slept in my closet last night in the fetal position. The wind was terrifying." " You? Same."

You know how many people here spent their night like that? Literally terrified because of the wind.

Another friend came in that also lost his business. "You doin' ok? Hard day. You? Same"

So. Much.

It's just so much.

We discussed basic every day life. You know....wood chippers. Chain saws. Tree cutting. Roof tarping. No heat. Missing bridges. Frozen water. Concrete livingroom floors. Food security. Mental health. The lack of housing.

That's a whole other conversation.

Basic small town coffee shop talk these days.

If you could have even heard the wood chipper talk..... I got all the details on how to use my new one. How to use the pitch fork. How she would share her chainsaw and I'd share my wood chipper. It was a light hearted moment of laughs and giggles, and a serious moment of reality.

The exhaustion on every face is so real. Deep worry lines. Serious calluses. Good toboggans. Chapped lips. Muddy boots.

My little Daddy was digging mud out of this stove for a friend that had all 3 floors flooded completely out. We dug mud out of the floor vents with a random wooden spoon located on the front porch. That was all that was left from the kitchen.

My friend ended up in the hospital due to flat out extreme exhaustion. That's it. Total and complete exhaustion.

Her response to a 3 day hospitalization?

"It felt like I had been to the Spa." She just needed a dang break from the disaster.

Y'all.

It's cold. It's windy. It's tough. Very tough.

Thank you for keeping up with our mountain towns. Thank you for loving us through. Thanks for asking us how we are, and bracing yourselves for the answer.

And if you're a "from here" that's survived this storm....keep on keeping on. Hugs and much love for all of you. We are going to make it.

One spoonful of heat vent mud at a time.

Keep digging.

Post and Photo from Mountain Time on Main Street Jan. 7, 2025 Facebook.

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And if you read substack articles, here's a good one from my friend Roberston Work - Our Illusions about our Beloved Country Have Burst. It starts with this photo: 

Many Substack articles are free, I've found, and some really intelligent people are posting that way now.

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I watched the NBC nightly news at 6:30 last night. It was mostly about the fires in California. I feel such empathy with the people who have had their lives suddenly changed so much, those who lost everything, and who had to rush to evacuate. I hate wildfires, uncontrolled and so vicious! Really scary. But the point I wanted to share had to do with the newscast having the last story (as they usually do) about a building that survived while everything on the other side of the street burned. It was a synagogue, and the rabbi and several members were interviewed, and then the cantor sang a song in Hebrew as the news finished. I was touched deeply.

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Sharing with Sepia Saturday 

I wonder if these young ladies ever washed their uniforms themselves.

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Today's quote:

"Strength of feeling, reverence for mystery, and clarity of intellect must be kept in balance with one another. Neither the passive nor the active must dominate, they must work in conjunction, as in a marriage." 

 poet Denise Levertov

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Today's Art:

Vincent van Gogh The Gleize Bridge over the Vigueirat Canal 1888.

And one must notice all the women washing clothes and hanging them across bushes! Women's work is never done! It does make me grateful for washers and driers (though I miss having sheets hung outside, not available at my apartment).

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Today on Open Yesterday's Pages: You Are Here (in the universe)

and

Thomas Paine and Common Sense