a sign of hope [day 232]

An early morning, driving, serving others, washing dishes, drinking lots of water, moving boxes: this is what my day consisted of. I went to Joplin for the day to help out -- even though it's almost been three months since the tornado hit, there's still so much to do. The heat, the flies, the hard work, the dirt, the heat, and oh, did I mention the heat? was all so worth it after seeing the gratitude of everyone. In hindsight, I regret not taking any photographs (I know, what kind of a photographer am I?), but it just didn't feel right at the moment. While I would have loved to document it with images, it was good for me to just remember every detail of this without the aid of anything else. There's such an amazing feeling after helping people -- it makes me want to do it all the time.
On the drive home, there was the most beautiful sunset. It seemed as if it was a sign of hope, that everything is going to be okay. Yes, so much was lost in such a short amount of time, but progress is being made and order is gradually being restored.
But for now, there's a hot shower and soft bed calling my name...

-carlotta