The Raptor Weekly: rhythm, rain, and CCC blues

Well hello there! How time flies when you are working hard...(and playing too hard to keep up with the blog)

So let's catch up where we last left off, long ago at the end of week 3: We've had 2 amazing weeks since, full of after-work adventures and ISPs, drum circles and dull machetes, malicious mop buckets and themed team dinners...it's hard to think that there's only two weeks left of this project, and then we say goodbye to the orange groves and the old folks, and to the many friends we've made here in Highlands County.

Week 4: To the beat of our own drums: We started the week with a bang, on drums that is...at Primal Connection's Community Drum Circle in Highlands Hammock State Park. The local non-profit hosts the event on the 3rd Sunday of every month, providing a variety of drums and percussion instruments for kids and adults alike to play and experiment with. We enjoyed learning various tribal rhythms from around the world, and hope that the people we met enjoyed learning about our 'tribe' of AmeriCorps members from all over the country.

We actually ended up spending a lot of time at the Highlands Hammock that week, meeting with a CCC storyteller at its Florida Civilian Conservation Corps Musuem Tuesday night, and volunteering for the park after work on Wednesday and Friday: Funny thing is, we were doing invasive species removal of exotic species we just learned the CCC planted there 70 years ago (they didn't know any better at the time...). The team enjoyed doing environmental work for once, and the hands-on service learning that the CCC musuem provided. Thanks Darryl! (pictured below, with team in blue CCC uniform parts).

Service that doesn't stop: Aside from Rhea and April (who escaped the Florida heat for a few days), the team celebrated Memorial Day weekend by helping paint a local shelter Saturday, followed by a rigorous night of "Taboo".

Habitat repeats itself: We started week 5 by fast and furiously nailing off, setting the trusses, and "drying out" another home. Everything moves quicker once you've done it before and at this point we are repeating a lot of steps (though we still hit our thumbs just as much!). With all we've learned, Rhea will surely be able to build her own house when she grows up! And something else we learned this week: don't drive onto unidentified gravel roads! They sometimes lead you into a random pit of sand...and by the time we realized this, we were already stuck (it's inevitable for most teams). Our wonderful Construction Manager Alan came to the rescue, pulling us out with his truck.

We finished the week with a break from building at the empty site of a house removal (it was moved to another property); working with several potential Habitat homeowners---plus a snake, several lizards, and one giant grasshopper---we cleared leftover debris and concrete, took down a picket fence, and hand-loaded two dumpsters, just like the good ol' days in Baltimore. After work, we were pleased to meet Nancy, the Family Services coordinator for Highlands County Habitat. She spoke with us about the family selection process, resources provided to potential and current Habitat homeowners, and examples of the substandard living conditions Habitat is working to eradicate. Knowing more about the administrative side of the organization helps us understand what our construction efforts are really for.

To learn more yourself, visit this link.

For general Habitat info, go here.

In other news, we are proud to announce that we are partnering with the Highlands Art League for a day of house-renovating service. Eagle Five and Highlands County Habitat are working together to re-floor, paint, and clean one of the local non-profit's buildings this Friday, June 6th. The finished house will be used for children's art classes and summer camp programs here in Sebring, Florida.

Eagle Fivers at the community drum circle on May 18th: