Busy, busy, busy.

I’m finally able to find some time to write. I can’t believe how busy I’ve been the past couple of days. It really started when I was called upon to staff the Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) last Wednesday. Because of the flood, the federal government (FEMA) had come in to assist people with a variety of services. A DRC was opened a week ago Monday and that’s where people who were affected by the flood were able to go and sign up for assistance. Evidently they were slammed the first couple of days. We got word that we needed to be there due to the nature of our agency and what we do for older adults. Since it was considered part of my quiet period, my supervisor had volunteered me for the job which was great. What I do at the table is to get the word out to older adults about the things we do and how we’re able to assist with post-flood. For me, it’s interesting to see how the Feds come into play and assist with all the local agencies and do the best they can. Our table was not too busy on Wednesday, but things definitely picked up on Thursday and Friday. I got to see first hand how the process works. Now, it’s not the most perfect system, but a lot of lessons were learned especially after the way things were handled at Katrina. Overall I have to say that my experience with FEMA has been extremely positive. I’ve gotten to know a number of them and they come from all over the country.

An observation I’ve been able to make is to see all the different people who come in for assistance. There are African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Whites and everyone get along and talk to one another as they all wait in line which could sometimes take hours. They all are in the same situation and they all have stories to share. Looking at some people, you can see faces of desperation, utter dejection and frustration yet overall, voices are not raised and people patiently await services. For many of them it will take many months before their lives go back to some semblance of normalcy. I attended a conference call with FEMA and different area agencies on aging and it was a very educational experience. Needless to say, DM can’t even come close to what Cedar Rapids went through so to hear from the area agency there what’s been going on has been more than enlightening. Everyone is trying to do their best to get the services and assistance to the people to the best of their abilities.

So, because I’ve been staffing the table, I’ve not been in my office for long periods of time. I come in for maybe an hour and get as much work done then head over to the DRC. I leave with enough time to head back to the office and submit whatever paperwork that needs to be done to get the services to our clients before leaving for my other job. That’s pretty much been how my work week has gone. A lot of touch and go. A number of different agencies have stopped staffing their table as they figure it’s more beneficial for them to remain at the main office, but Aging Resources have continued to stay. We’ve not gotten any word regarding the last day the DRC will be open and I’m guessing we’ll continue to be there as long as it’s open.

My respite came on Saturday since I had the off from work. I went to the Farmers Market early and did my rounds a couple of times before meeting up with Anna at 8:30AM. I was on the lookout for the booth that sold the siew pau, but it was not there. I ended up going to the information booth for the Farmers Market and they informed me that the particular vendor I was looking for was what they called a temporary vendor and they do not have any idea when they will be back. I was pretty bummed, but ended up eating a pretty darn good breakfast burrito right across from where I was to meet Anna. By golly, this may just end up being my most favorite food at the Farmers Market. Once Anna arrived, we walked around some more and the weather was just perfect. We left in time to make it to the opening of the Des Moines Arts Festival. I missed it last year because I was hiking the Rockies so it was nice to be there. There were tons of vendors and there were a couple of art pieces that really piqued my interested. However, the ones that were impressive were all between $3,500 and $5,500. Evidently I have expensive taste in art! All in all we just had a great time walking the festival and just taking the gorgeous summer weather in. We ended up by attending a performance by this DM based jazz quartet that was pretty impressive. Anna’s in charge of the music program of a high school and we were at Drake the same time and active at St. Kate’s. She knew one of the guys from the quartet who teaches history at the school. Talk about a great way to enjoy a summer day.

I was supposed to go back to the festival later that evening with Kristi, but she cancelled on me because of volleyball so I ended up spending time at the house and playing with the dog. He had a good exercise for sure because of the amount of running I made him do! Sunday was pretty quiet as there was not a lot going on which was fine by me.

I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday and Friday is the 4th of July. Where has time gone? It seems like summer is half over although it feels like it has barely started. That’s all the news from my front!