Back home again--not quite as briefly

We spent a quick three days in New Jersey this past week to meet with people who are involved with assisting the victims of the mid-April flooding. Things are just beginning to come together for recovery. There are still areas that are blocked off from public access and about 150 people who are still out of their homes. The storms were worst in New Jersey but also affected New York and several of the new England states.

Usually what happens in these circumstances is that someone at a national or state-wide level will call together local agencies (county United Way or Red Cross e.g.) and recovery groups like CRWRC for meetings or conference calls where we talk about what the damage was and where help is needed and then try to work out who can provide assistance where. We are working on sending a clean-up crew from CRWRC out sometime in the next week or so to the Paterson NJ area.

We hope to be home for a while, although Carrie is leaving on Wednesday again for a few days or birding at Point Pelee Ontario. It's good to be able to settle in to our own space and do some nesting. Gardening especially is beckoning!