- The "hurricane" subtitle is about something I never thought to talk about before: my Red Cross deployment to Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina operations back in December of 2005. After reading an article last week about the upcoming potential for hurricanes this year, it hit me that I had never actually talked about that stuff in any real depth. It wasn't due to the actual experience itself because that's easy for me to talk about, but for some time afterwards I would get hung up on the awe-striking imagery that popped up in my head of what I saw there whenever the subject came up. Even now, the images strike me somewhat vividly. I wish I had a camera at the time so I could have shared that stuff here, but unfortunately I don't. Before I get too wrapped up in the imagery in my head once again, let me get into the experience itself and some of what I can describe...at least from what I can remember.
When I started with the Red Cross in Delaware, OH, I was working under the auspices of AmeriCorps. I started there in mid-September, about a couple weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit those southern states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. I worked in the Disaster Services office and started immersing myself in current goings-on for the ARC (short for American Red Cross), which included a ton of stuff on the major event at the time, the major hurricanes that hit the southern U.S. I got antsy as I learned about what was going on and got more so as I was helping ready volunteers for deployment to the affected areas. I wanted to see what was going on there for myself and, as is my nature, wanted to help out in the worst way. I made myself available for deployment in October, but it wasn't until early December (three months after Katrina hit) that my boss got the call for me to be deployed. Unlike most volunteers who had two days to get ready, I had to be ready and at the airport by 4 AM the next day. At the time, most volunteers would serve three weeks on a deployment but because of restrictions place by AmeriCorps I was only allowed two weeks (if I did have three weeks, I would have been there on Christmas day). On December 7th, I was on my way to Mississippi.
When I got there, I was driven by ARC staff to the operations HQ in Gulfport, MS. One of the first things I saw on the drive to HQ was what looked to be a 30 to 40 foot boat...could have been a yacht...crashed into the roof of a building like if an airplane had crashed into it. It was just sticking out of the top of the building it crashed into. At that moment I knew I wasn't in Ohio anymore. For the first couple of days I stayed at the SeaBees base in Gulfport, then got moved to a hotel for the rest of my stay there. I mainly worked on ERVs (short for Emergency Response Vehicles) preparing and serving food to people in affected areas, teaming with different people every day I was there. I did serve on scout duty one day near the end of my stay scouting areas of potential need of Red Cross services, but for the most part I served food to people. It was tiring work and a bit stressful at times (especially the day the ERV I was riding in got a flat tire in a somewhat deserted area...that was interesting), but it was definitely worthwhile work.
Like I said earlier, the thing I usually get hung up on when talking about the deployment is the stuff I saw, the awe-striking imagery. I wish I had a good camera with me on the trip (I couldn't afford one) and tried to use the camera in the cell phone I just got a few days earlier, but it wasn't that good of a camera and I couldn't transfer the pics anywhere so that was a useless endeavor. All I had imagery-wise was what I remember in my head, and like I said earlier, what I saw was awe-striking. The boat crashed into that building was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what I saw there. I saw several huge barges that were used for gambling beached inland, sometimes up to a half a mile away from water, all rusted out and full of holes. There were neighborhoods where there were just foundations and plumbing sticking out of the ground in places houses big and small once stood...not just certain areas, I'm talking entire neighborhoods, especially where ground zero of Hurricane Katrina hit. It looked like a wasteland. I got to go on a day trip to New Orleans and got an eyeful there. One of the I-10 bridges was out thanks to the hurricane, so there was only one accessible bridge to the city (on the way back, I got stuck in traffic for four hours there due to all the back-up on that one bridge alone). I drove by a washed-out looking Superdome that reeked, even three months after the hurricane hit. The French Quarter was intact for the most part but there were entire neighborhoods in New Orleans that looked like warzones you'd see in old World War II movies. There was so much that I saw on the deployment that even now it's hard to put into words. It was probably the one time in my life that I wish I had a real camera with me.
So what did I get out of that deployment? Well, a huge phone bill, for one thing. I didn't have roaming on my phone plan at the time so my bill for that month was rather high (I do now, thank God). I got an experience that not many people I know have ever had, much less could envision having. When I got back and tried to describe my experiences to co-workers, AmeriCorps people and my friends, I got really tongue-tied when thinking about what I saw there and was like "uhhhhhh..." or something along those lines. That deployment really affected me in two major ways. First, it visually reminded me that tomorrow is not promised to any of us. Second, it started me back down a path toward dreaming again about the future and the potential it might hold for me. I lost that sometime during my first go-round at Ohio State and only got it back after that trip...I don't know how I got it back, only that it came back after I went to Mississippi. Now, would I go on such a deployment again? If I had the motivation and some updated training, in a heartbeat I would, even if it wasn't the life-changing experience my Hurricane Katrina deployment turned out to be.
- I've got a few blog-related things I want to talk about here. First, I've closed down my Empire Avenue account. It really wasn't doing much in that it was too entangled with other unrelated things for it to really make the kind of impact I wanted for DJRT, so I shut it down. I am keeping the other DJRT social media accounts. The DJRT Facebook page is good to promote my stuff to my friends. The DJRT Pinterest account is like a "Random Pics" version of the blog and great for images I come across without having to post the pics in individual editions themselves (that can be a pain sometimes). The DJRT Google Plus page is great for photo albums and helps me promote to a wider audience. The DJRT Twitter account helps with the audience too and was especially helpful in promoting the "Tree Hill" edition. However, I am looking for more places to promote DJRT to an even wider audience beyond what I potentially have now, so if anybody has any suggestions as to where I can do so, let me know on the DJRT Facebook, Google+, or Twitter pages. I am interested in getting some feedback on this.
- This upcoming Sunday, MCW will be having a Riot Television taping on the 26th in Massillon at the Firehouse Grille & Pub. MCW announced recently that not only will Riot TV be on the MCWPro.com website but the show will be airing on several local cable networks in NE Ohio as well (go to MCWPro.com to find out what cable networks it'll be airing on), so this show will be the first television taping for cable TV. I don't know if I'm going to be able to go to this taping (God, I want to but I'm not sure I'm going to make it there), but in any case I want to help promote the event however I can effectively. Here's some more information on this show:
Believe me, this is a great wrestling product and worth supporting. For more information on the show or MCW, go to MCWPro.com.
- This past Saturday, I went to the Circle Fest at Tallmadge Circle. It was the first Tallmadge-related event I went to since I was in high school (I went to a 9-11 memorial service at Tallmadge Circle in 2002 but that wasn't really all that Tallmadge-related). It was a pretty big event with thousands of people attending. I didn't know what to expect especially since I hadn't seen too many people I knew from Tallmadge since I returned a year ago. I have to admit...it wasn't what I expected. Out of the thousands there, I saw a total of four people I recognized at the festival and only two I actually talked to...my former classmate Donielle who was bartending at Tallmadge's Firehouse Grille and my former neighbor Heather. I didn't want to take up too much of their time but I did want to at least say hi to them. Now, I have to admit, I haven't always looked at or thought of Tallmadge or many of the people here in the best light, especially with many of the experiences I had growing up here. Those I did see in a good light, I approached or talked to (as I did with folks at Circle Fest)...those I didn't, I tried to ignore or would be erratic around them to try and scare them away. It's not a pretty or comforting thought, I know, but that was the case and I'm no longer going to avoid acknowledging it because that was my history. I can't change the past and I can't change my past, but what I can change is how I go forward. In changing how I do that, at the festival I started seeing Tallmadge differently, or at least in a better light than I remembered. There was a lot going on there and a lot of things to see that I hadn't been able to before. I had a free coupon for one of those McDonald's Spicy Chicken McBites, but the McBites were more spicy "popcorn breading" than "popcorn chicken." Sufficed to say I'm not having that for a meal again. There were many different types of people there, the town being more diverse than I remembered it. I saw one girl who looked like she was attempting a goth look but ended up looking like the love child of Marilyn Manson and Bozo the Clown (not trying to be cruel here...it was what I actually thought). Tallmadge Circle was closed down to accomodate the festival and it was the first time I ever fully walked around the circle itself (on the road no less) after all the times I'd been in the area before. I walked around several businesses and visited the old church in the circle and the old town hall. While visiting the Olde Town Hall (that's what it's called), I had a rather long chat with a lady about Mike Bettes, the Weather Channel personality who was a Tallmadge High School alum and was also my resident floor advisor in my dorm during my 3rd year at Ohio State. There were also a parade and fireworks at the festivities. The parade took place after dark, which makes it the first night parade outside of Disney World I've ever seen. It was a pretty long parade, maybe even longer than the Memorial Day parade they have every year (or longer than the ones I saw). The circle was 5-7 people deep during the parade both inside and outside the circle with a lot of people searching for a decent place to watch it from. I watched the fireworks from probably the best spot in the area to see them, the aforementioned Firehouse Grill that used to be the Bumpas Emporium a long time ago. I had a really good time at the event and I think that both the changes in the town and the changes in my views helped make it that way. BTW, I did take a bunch of photos of what I saw at the event (and only a couple of blurry ones...I guess I have a good daytime camera) which you can check out in my Google Plus album for the event: 08-18-12 - Circle Fest, Tallmadge, OH (Tallmadge Circle).
- After the first couple of preseason Browns games, I have a good feeling about the team this season. There seems to be a lot of talent on both sides of the ball and a lot of rookies and newbies trying to step up big time to make the team during the regular season. New ownership might be the reason for that. This might be the first time in recent memory that there's going to be some tough cuts to be made before the roster is set and there will be teams seriously looking at some of those players. They've won their first two preseason games...yes, I know they don't count, but they do matter in terms of how the team might look in the regular season. People have dumped on the Browns for the longest time and some critics have them losing every game this year, but I think things are about to change for the better. They are going to have a lot of first-year players on this team, but in this case that might be to the team's benefit. I'm looking forward to the upcoming season and hoping for the best as usual.
- Song on Repeat: "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. This is a song I think everybody needs to listen to every once in a while, especially if you are suffering from something physically, mentally or emotionally. There's a strange phenomenon that happens regarding me and this song. I've found that after listening to this song repeatedly for a period of time and then get sick of listening to it and stop playing it, whatever thing I'm suffering from seems to ease a bit. I don't know if this happens to anybody else but this is the only song I know of that has this effect on me. No other song I know of does this...it's weird.
- SLP to the following: Ernest, Holly, Todd, Aunt Sue, Debbie, Dave, Cory, Christian Vaughn, Sean Mason, Bob, Lynn, Micah, Aunt Sandi, Diane (congrats on your nuptials), Donielle, Heather D. & Tony C.
That's it for this edition. I know I've been on a blogging streak as of late but I'm not sure when I'm doing the next one. Until then, I look forward to the feedback anybody has about wherever I can promote DJRT (outside of where I already do, of course). Until next time, folks....take care and God Bless.
DJ
