Physical Wednesday

Today was not a usual sort of day for me. When we all arrived at work, the servers were down so we couldn't get to any of our work. At first we couldn't even get internet access. My boss brought donuts because a former coworker was coming in to train a current one, so we all sat around eating donuts and drinking coffee. Not a bad way to spend the morning! Eventually we all found non-computer related things to do; I moved a bunch of files from one cabinet to another and packed some more up for shredding. I was enjoying having such a physical day at work, where I usually sit at a desk in front of a computer, but when the servers still weren't up by lunchtime, I took half a day off of work to go to Light Bright's house and help clean up after the tornado.

Travalon and I had lunch, then we drove to Light Bright's house, which she was just leaving to go to gig. I know how that goes - even tornadoes can't get you out of gigs! Her husband and in-laws were there sawing up a big tree that had fallen on the house and collecting the branches, so we joined them. I raked up debris while Travalon sawed big branches into more manageable pieces, and we made a ton of trips from the backyard to the front, where the city would collect all the debris. At least Light Bright's beautiful garden was unscathed, but her beloved peach tree was literally tied in a knot and had to come down. I'd never seen such a thing but of course I hadn't brought my questionable camera. The mood was oddly festive, with all the neighbors out doing cleanup, and random people stopping by to offer their help or, in the case of two cute little black girls, a cold soda. Lots of people were driving down Light Bright's usually sleepy street, not just the friends and strangers offering help but also people who were just gawking at the damage and others who wanted the free firewood from all those sawed-up trees.

There's nothing like cleaning up after a tornado to make you realize how out of shape you are. Travalon and I were only at it for two hours and were completely beat. Light Bright's husband and in-laws were going strong after two days of this, and her in-laws are a good twenty years older than we are! I am going to claim that all this physical labor today excuses me from UGGH Club both this morning and tomorrow morning. I will get back there eventually...

Famous Hat