Flooded Museum Visit.
This morning, I was going to take Laurel to the Art Museum for a culture injection.
On the way there, she heard radio announcers speaking of the local sandbagging efforts. The Meramec River last flooded to current levels in 1982, and the crest is expected to top that. Since that time, levees have been constructed in Valley Park, which makes business owners and residents of Fenton nervous. If the levees in Valley Park aren't breached, all that water will end up in Fenton.
Laurel asked if we could go help with the sandbagging instead of going to the Art Museum. The museum, she figured, would still be there another time. Fenton needed us now.
We turned the car around.
After changing into more appropriate sandbagging attire, we went in search of rising waters. They were not difficult to find.
I manned a shovel and Laurel first manned the bags, then as more adults came along to hold the bags, she ran from group to group tying the filled bags so the contents wouldn't spill. She must have tied hundreds of bags, working her fingers to the bone and running at full tilt between groups to stay caught up. She worked with a sense of urgency I've never seen in an 8-year-old and really impressed everyone. She paused for a drink of water and for a hurried lunch of mostaccioli and cookies brought by church volunteers, then went right back to work though the heavy duties were clearly taking their toll.
All in all, we worked for 5 hours. I enjoyed every minute of it -- hard as it was -- the other volunteers were great. Everyone was so friendly and entertaining. Even Laurel remarked how nice it was to unite for a common purpose. When people found out she shunned a fun trip to the Art Museum for this, they were blown away. I wasn't surprised, though. I've seen Laurel be selfless like this before, and it makes me so proud every time.
I never really counted the sandbags, but I believe one of the other volunteers had counted 12 truckloads of sand by the time we wore down. We finished exhausted, sore, and full of that true sense of accomplishment one gets from such hard work.
This morning we were going to the Art Museum for an injection of culture. Our plans took a drastic detour, but honestly, I think we came out ahead.
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