week 23, post 1: failure and success

Finally. Finally! Finally, after months and months of delays, my host Andrew's insurance came through and he had the financial resources to raise the house. The long-awaited day was set for Wednesday (!) Not good. I'd been looking forward to participating in raising the house, but I'd already committed to three or more clients on Grand Isle. An ideal crew would be 12 workers -- one at each chain hoist. I worked hard to reccruit and additional 7 or 8 people to help. Failure. The Mennonites were already short on labor this week. There were no volunteers in Dulac, nor at the Presbyterian volunteer village. There were no volunteers in Grand Isle. So I/we didn't come through on our part. Failure.
Andrew and his crew of 4 people pressed on. One works when one can. So the house waddled and wobbled its way skyward, people moving from hoist to hoist, to its final height of about 15 feet above sea level (12 feet above ground). There it sat in all its glory. The beams were tacked into place and will receive final welds next week. Success.
Congratulations were in order and were joyfully offered.
A picture is included. It's beautiful!