POST 526 - DAY 325 / 69: OUTER BANKS, NORTH CAROLINA

Winds constant 25 - 35 with higher gusts are resulting in bitter cold from wind chill. Daytime sunny days are comfy until just before sundown...then its Hoodie time again.

SPIA is rent with open seams, loose windows and skylights. Wind finds ways inside. The entire roof/side(s) are now sealed on the outside with thick adhesive-back aluminum tape, as are all windows. Skylights are packed from the inside with thick foam. Even so, the Propane Furnace must be operated intermittently to keep the bite out of the inside air.

Must be careful to leave one skylight cracked open to avoid possible asphyxiation from possible propane leaks.

In the coming week, I plan to line the INSIDE walls with blankets to impede the cold from radiating through windows and side panels - which have NO insulation.

I did not anticipate such cold out here on the Outer Banks. I may have to hang around longer than early February if the temperature continues to drop. The Northern Plains are going to be bitter cold...am trying to dampen the extreme while passing time in the Outer Banks.

Yesterday, I took the day off...stayed inside SPIA reading and resting.

Today, Sunday, reported to the Food Bank at 8:30 am. The Food Truck arrived around 9:00 am, was unloaded with packaged meats, bread, pasta, pastries, and big boxes of loose veggies and fruit set upon the new shelving. I was left alone to sort and display each item. There are no display bins as yet, so I cut down a number of "shopping bags" into containers. It worked rather nicely...giving clients a good look and access to choose items without rummaging through the big boxes of mixed items.

I sat through the Services of Pastor Steve's Church, attended by 21 folks. P. Steve delivers a good sermon...easy to hear and understand...one without theatrics. Daughter Mandy again provided music and song.

The Food Pantry opened after Services. A number of boxes and bags full of food and household cleaning products were toted away.

The recently completed Food Pantry functioned well. Overhead fluorescent lighting is ready to be installed, together with painting of shelving. Plan to help P. Steve - and perhaps Terry - in that project tomorrow. A few siding gaps remain to be filled in the "eves". A bit of caulking is yet to be completed.

I have learned that FEMA helped with $$ for replacement of "contents" damaged by Hurricane IRENE. Structural repairs, however, appear to be the responsibility of homeowners. Some folks did not have "flood" damage insurance and must pay for repair. A number of uninsured homes have apparently been DESTROYED by IRENE.

Garbage collection happens again Tuesday morning, after which I will once again fill the four trash cans with DEJA VU Hurricane trash...one more week should finish it off. The contractors started repairing flood damage to the inside of DEJA VU. The entire lower level was flooded. Inside wall paneling, insulation, flooring and electrical must be ripped out and replaced.

I will make it my project to move a set of bunk beds and a Daveno bed to the upstairs - if I can manage to get it up the narrow stairway -, so the contractors can do their thing efficiently.

After that, I plan to return to COLUMBIA to help Karen and Craig with painting of their flood damaged home.

Somewhere in between all else, I will resume walking and blogging the Northern Outer Banks and close-by mainland villages.

I am also letting it be known that I am available to help local home-owners and businesses with any tasks they may have to recover from Hurricane IRENE damage.

It is now 6:00 pm. SPIA's furnace is cycling every 15 minutes or so...turned down to 60 degrees, and I am hungry...may whip up some pasta for din din, read for a while, and slip into the snug down comforter gifted by Karen.