New and noteworthy in the Forest Lake wildlife are the addition of a bard owl (or two) - whose call I can distinguish almost entirely due to T-Clog and his fine rendition, and what was possibly a family of moorhens but I can't be entirely sure. Online resources would indicate that as the clsest match for what I saw, but the online photos didn't seem quite right.
Went to the dedication of a small project I worked on during one of the lapses in the large project I've been working on since 1999. The website for the organization, in this case a hospice, is at the top - you can see things about the hospice and they even have a webcam, though I'm not certain how much longer that will be running.
It was both a rewarding process and a difficult one. The people who work for and are associated with hospices are remarkable people. They have dedicated their lives to providing care to people at the end of their lives, and to allow those people to die in as dignified and comfortable way as possible. Almost without exception, the people they care for are in very tough shape with months or less to live. The hospice house will see those people who are in the last two weeks of life and can no longer be reasonably cared for at home. The strength of character it takes to devote your life to the care of such people and to deal with loss on such a regular basis is simply .... I don't know. Remarkable? Amazing? Dumbfounding? All seem like pale shadows of the word required.
Throughout the course of the project, which began in 2002, I interacted with everyone from volunteer board members to the staff that make it run everyday. Almost without exception the board members were amazing in a way that few boards I have experienced are. These people had all been through the hospice experience with loved ones, from parents to wives and husbands, and universally were giving of themselves because of their appreciation for the organization. Most were successful professional people who clearly had plenty going on in their lives that not dealing with a drawn out design and construction process would have been some relief, but they did it anyway.
Among the projects that we do this was a rarity. This is a place where idealism could find a home, a place not for generally well-to-do, though certainly they avail themsleves of hospice services, but with a mission that is inarguably noble. Needless to say, that among all the projects I have taken part in during my short career, for this one I reserve a special place of pride and when many of the others have faded will remember with fondness.
And furthermore, contemplating this has really got me thinking that my next place of employment has got to be dedicated at least in part to a nobler mission, be it sustainable design or low-income housing, or something that allows me to exercise my desire to affect positive change in the world, using the tools that I have struggled to develop most.
8 comments:
On Barred (note spelling-due to bars of color, rather than a bard-like call) owls. Forest Lake Nature Center-one out in your neck of the woods? I'd never heard you mention it.
On Buildings and your quest for a nobler use of your talents: you know I've been encouraging this pursuit in all of us for some time now. Does Habitat for Humanity hire resident architects?
For myself, my biggest hinderance is my lack of academic background in the physical sciences, which are the relevant domain for much of the noble and worthwhile mapping being done these days. I'll get there-but I know what my limitations are and need to work within them for awhile.
Forest lake is the name of the lake we live on - there is no Forest Lake nature center per se. I was lying in bed listening to said barred owl, after having heard him/her while walking the dog. been hearing him for a couple of weeks.
Habitat is not something I could make a living at. The design work is generally pro bono, and while that certainly is a worthwhile pursuit, I'd prefer to do whatever it is as my means of earning a living.
You'd be a heck of an asset to the Peace Corps, though you may not be at a place in your life where that's something you can do and return to a semblance of the life you currently have.
I think that ship has sailed, although it is something that floats around in my mind, surfacing from time to time.
My Small Group and I are working with Habitat for Humaity this Saturday Morning. My fellow small group men and I will help build a house in Waterloo. It may be somthing that I do more of after I see how this goes.
That's great!
As long as your 'small group' isn't a collection of teenage scouts doing your bidding while you luxuriate on a dias being fanned by nubile virgins and fed grapes. (nubile virgin scouts - of course)
Or shrimp.
I hope the house lasts longer than your horse trail retaining wall.
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