Summoning Guts

I woke up this morning after spending half the night on the internet in increasingly horrified dismay from watching New Orleans & the rest of the Gulf Coast disappear/implode/stare stunned at the wreckage. And I thought, you know, I could volunteer. I should, why not? I'm unemployed, I'm healthy, I'm capable. So I see from the paper that the Red Cross here is recruiting volunteers to go down there for three weeks immediately. I'm sitting here with my phone in hand, shivering, thinking, okay, just make the call, just do it, change your life, do something worthwhile for once, but I'm scared as all get out. Absolutely petrified. Major life changes scare the piss out of me.

I did it. I called and I'm signed up for intensive "family services" training tomorrow evening at the Red Cross on Merrimon & then for 3 weeks at the Gulf. She asked me if I was okay with living with no electricity, no water etc & I said, sure, I even have all my own camping gear. She asked me what experience I had and I said, well, quite a lot with education and child care and pre-K and she said, we want you in family services. So here I go, I guess. Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa whoa. I'm terrified and elated and, man, A is going to have a complete cow when she hears what I'm doing, since it means she'll be home alone with the two crazy dogs for three weeks. Holy holy, guacamole.