One of the items to go to the debris heap was a small artificial Christmas Tree. As I thought about it, I just could not put it in the debris pile. I was not sure what to do with it, nor why I wanted to save it.
As I looked at the poor thing that had been under several feet of salt water storm surge it dawned on me that it would cause no more damage to be exposed to rainwater. I put it up in the yard in front of the FEMA Camper that is our home for now. But want to decorate it with? As I looked around, I could still see all sorts of debris that has not been hauled off by the workers. What better use?
The base of a Christmas Tree usually has cotton or paper around it. I remembered that under a roof that we had removed from between two houses after cleaning the garage, there were some bats of insulation. Thus the base was covered. (Thank you Corning Glass for the pink glass wool!) The decorations all came from the debris piles except for one item which I will comment on later. The decorations include plastic, scraps of foam sheets, tar paper from under shingles, and bits of shingles, etc. I still have not found a star for the top, so I used a plastic auto air conditioning vent adapter to hold a large red plastic checker that was by the street.
The day before yesterday (22 December, 2005) I found a part of a string of Christmas Lights. It had six unbroken bulb. I managed to get all six burning and now have a lighted tree. I also remembered a Santa that was deposited in the remains of my son's bedroom and after reattaching the head, added it to the decorations. What about that one item that is not from the debris piles? Near the top, there is a bottle. It was given me by a lady who was monitoring the debris removal crew on our street. She had just used the last of the germicidal hand cleaner that is standard equipment for anyone working in our area and wanted to contribute it to the tree rather than put it in the pile. We just short stopped it from going into the debris, so I felt it still qualified and I was honored to be have it.
The Merry Christmas sign came from the wreckage of a home near the remains of my son's home. It had been broken, presumably by the storm. The son of that family told me that he had removed everything that they were going to take out and to get the lumber from the front and anything that I could use. I hope to repair it after Christmas and if I can locate them, return it. If not we will proudly use it and remember them.
What about the gifts under the tree? They too are from the debris and represent things that most of us here need. They all went under salt water and were in the debris. They include the remains of a power drill, orbital sander, weed trimmer, bleach to kill mold, a shawl that had belonged to my wife, a sweater that I think belonged to my son ... or perhaps one of his neighbors, a circular saw, a piece of a 2X4, plastic from my FEMA Blue Roof that was destroyed in the last storm front that went through, wrapper from some of the Red Cross snacks, and a sanding disk.
We hope that you enjoy our Katrina Tree. Please take it as a tribute to Christmas and what it stands for. We don't have the nice things left for a tree, BUT WE HAVE A DECORATED TREE. Since it is all debris, I am reluctant to call it a Christmas Tree.
We are not in a manger, though there are many here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast who would consider a manger an upgrade from the tent or carport that they now call home.
We wish for them a speedy delivery on a FEMA Camper or perhaps they might be lucky enough to get a real mobile home. My wonderful wife says that she has to go outside to change her mind and also that we live in a "custom built home in a gated community". I say we are in a FEMA camper South of the razor wire that runs for the length of the county, some 26 or so miles along the north side of the CSX Railroad tracks. Though it has a lot of drawbacks, we are very thankful for it. The "FEMA box" is a warm dry place to stay (now that I have patched the leaks and repaired the plumbing) until the house can be fixed up again.
