Friday, July 13, 2012

All Cleaned Up

Last Saturday members of the local Mennonite church came out and cleaned up my mess. They brought equipment as well. There were about twenty five volunteers, not counting the women who brought out some lunch. They all prayed, and fell to doing some very dirty and unrewarding work.


We've had some rain since the fire, and the pasture is actually greening up in the burned out areas. This picture doesn't show it very well.


This is the view from north of the house looking right at where it used to be.


This is the view from the front drive. All the questionable trees have been uprooted and buried, the foundation, the well pit, the septic tank and all of the trash has been buried. The head of the project told me they were going to salvage as much iron and steel as possible to sell and give me the cash, but I told them I would donate it to the church. Good grief - I should be paying them. No way I could accept that money. The Mennonites are always in the background of our society out here - you just never notice them until you are out around their farms. They are never involved in politics, they school their own, so no social interactions at the local football game, and so on. However, when the chips are down, they arrive, ready to assist in whatever fashion they can. I am extremely indebted to my community as a whole; the support has been overwhelming. This was just another example of the generosity of the human spirit in southwest Kansas.

12 comments:

CGHill said...

The handful of Mennonites I've met have been sterling folks, well worth knowing.

drjim said...

You live in a *real* community, Jeff!
Folks willing to help other folks, and that's the way it should be!

MorningGlory said...

My son-in-law was raised Mennonite; he's turned away from them since joining the Army, but you can definitely see their influence in his day-to-day dealings.

SteveK said...

The Mennonites are an amazing people and they certainly practice True Christianity! It's great to have them as neighbors. That's also nice of you Jeff, to let them have the proceeds of their recycling.

I can imagine that this must have been hard for you to now see a vacant expanse where your house once stood, but maybe it helps in the process of moving on.

All the best,
Cousin Steve

threecollie said...

That is truly beautiful

Moms Musings said...

You have such wonderful neighbors.

lisa said...

That is great, we have the amish and they do great work and are always willing to work and help out if you need them. We have on fellow that we just love!

Anonymous said...

Amazing.

Bob's Blog said...

Wonderful! Have you heard from Instapundit?

pleasantp said...

All in all, your a lucky guy. I know it's tough looking a piece of bare ground where your childhood home once stood. But you still have your life, and a bunch of true friends. The Mennonites, Amish and Mormons all have social and human values that are fast being ignored by the vast majority of this Country. Count your blessings that you have them as neighbors.

Nuckle Kim

Jena said...

That is awesome!

Jeffro said...

Bob: No, I have not.