Hello Mayberry friends, thought some of you might want some more news from Joplin.
Yesterday a crew of about 30 people from Samaritan's Purse came by to tackle the enormous mess that used to be our yard. We lost about 30 large trees, but they got them all cut up and cleared away. We literally do have enough wood for seven winters, as Andy once remarked to Gomer. Residents have been told to pile branches, etc. by the curb for pickup, but the street in front of the house is still blocked by utility vehicles and pipes and cables and stuff; most of this stuff was there before the storm. So, we piled up huge mountains of debris and got it as close to the street as we could. The crew from Samaritan's Purse brought a skip loader, which was a huge help. The larger stumps will require a backhoe, and an old friend of my dad's is going to bring his over on Saturday. Hey Ken, I could use some of those Wisconsin maple seeds. We had two maple trees but they're gone now, along with 11 walnuts, 4 cedars, 7 or 8 persimmons, 1 dogwood, 1 redbud, 2 elms, and several other trees I never could identify. The apple tree survives! The outpouring of love and help all over town continues to amaze me. The coolest thing of all was when a travelling circus brought in their elephants, yes, I said ELEPHANTS! and put them to work pulling wrecked cars out of the rubble. Several groups have set up emergency medical stations, including one right across the street from my house, so I did finally get a tetanus shot. So to all of you who had been practicing "Dig My Grave with a Silver Spade" for my funeral, just hold off on that for a while. Most of you probably also heard that President Obama visited Joplin. He gave a nice speech at a memorial service, and also toured the damaged area and met with "just folks" to offer encouragement. We weren't able to attend the memorial service because we were working with insurance adjustors that afternoon. Our insurance company has been amazing, we received a check for the house less than a week after it was destroyed. We hope to receive another check for the contents this week, that was a separate policy. A word of advice: get a video camera and make a record of absolutely everything in your house and garage, then store this video somewhere away from the house. DO THIS TODAY, and do it again every year or so. I was given this advice many times over the years but I ignored it. It's been quite a challenge to come up with a complete list of the stuff we lost. Well, I'm off to meet with realtors and bankers this morning, then it's back to the remains of the house to finish cleaning up the yard. Keep a good thought. Paul Mulik _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
