LoopyKnits

Just found this blog-errific tool. Click here to find out your financial standing in comparison to all other people on Earth: http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Did you try it? Isn’t it INSANE? They tell me that my family’s income puts us in the top 0.503% richest people in the world, and the world holds more than 5.9 billion people poorer than me. Are they kidding? I was astonished, because we’re decidedly middle class and we often live paycheck to paycheck. We have to plan for even modest purchases like back-to-school clothes for two kids, this year’s new choir dress and choir dues for my oldest, and little luxuries like that pair of Crocs (trendy expensive shoes) my youngest wants me to get for her. We may be adding gasoline to the “luxuries” list now that it’s at $3.19/gallon (a temporary high, I hope). And I’m kinda dreading telling my husband that I just blew $47 at Blockbusters last night buying and renting some movies and getting a bit of candy for the kiddos. (Hi, honey! Just kidding! It was totally free!)

But because I know we’re not rich, this little online tool this does have the intended effect of showing me just how little some families have. Compared to my average lifestyle, so many people have so much less. It encourages me to dig a little deeper to give back. Thought-provoking, isn’t it?

And to think that just last week I was at one of my favorite yarn shops, contentedly plunking down another $40 for some yummy yarns and feeling a little self-conscious for blowing the money — like I should be hearing “Hey, Big Spender!” blasting behind me as a personal soundtrack and mild rebuke — when I was astonished to hear the woman ahead of me spending six HUNDRED dollars and change on some luxury yarns and needles. Eh, what? I think I gaped like Jethro, because I know I felt wistful, a bit envious and entirely shocked. I joked with the yarn shop owner afterward, asking her why she even bothered waiting on shrimpy little buyers like me. She assured me there were far more small buyers like me than the heavy-hitter shopper who’d just left the shop, and she treasures all her customers. (Smart and kind-hearted yarn shop owner, eh?)

God bless the shopper who had the wads of money to spend on yarn; it’s her money and she deserves to spend it any way she wants — generously on herself and, I hope, generously on others. I don’t mean to imply a criticism of wealthy folks; I’m just talking about the train of thought she cranked up for me.

I’m grateful for the abundance we have in my country, my state, my city, and my household. While I’m not going to stop buying nice yarns for my knitting enjoyment — I know the poor will always be with us no matter what one person does, so I won’t deprive myself of that handicrafting pleasure — I am going to think more about ways I can help others. I think this year for Christmas I’m going to sit down with each family member and pick a charity we can support for the coming year — whatever charity they care the most about — and make a more conscious effort to give. I give painlessly at work with blood drives and monthly payroll deducations for United Way, and my knitting guild regularly knits for local charities, but it would feel nice to make a more deliberate effort more often.

That train of thought that I’m experiencing and that I’m hearing from others is one of the few things I can be truly thankful to Hurricane Katrina for. I’m already seeing local fundraisers up here in the Memphis area to benefit hurricane victims, and it warms me to see it.

As I’ve heard more and more stories coming from the Gulf Coast about people stealing portable generators (our relatives were warned to buy sturdy locks), the rapes and suicides that happened among the squalor and desperation within the SuperDome shelter, and looters shoving aside dead bodies to plunder homes, I’ve also been heartened to hear about heroic efforts to care for others, neighbors checking on elderly people who live alone nearby, businesses that have set up websites to help family members who were separated during the evacuation efforts find each other again (and distant people check on whether Gulf Coast friends and relatives are still alive), people buying supplies not just for themselves but also for friends, emergency workers doing the nauseating but necessary task of collecting the bodies that are rapidly decomposing in the Southern heat and storing them in cool stairwells and other secure areas until proper resting places can be found, ordinary people doing extraordinary things to rescue lives, and friends with chainsaws doggedly cleaning up fallen trees on their own property and then widening their circle to help friend and neighbors and strangers.

I don’t think that bad behavior is excused by a crisis like this, as I’ve read on some blogs, any more than I think people should be sainted for doing what is the good, right, and decent thing to do. Let’s celebrate the good and also recognize that weaker people may need encouragement to change or containment to keep from hurting others. Pressure reveals out the character strengths or flaws that already exist in a person. Strong people have the fortitude to help both themselves and the world around them. Weak people crumble and may even prey upon others.

As the saying goes, “The same fire that melts butter also hardens steel and purifies gold.”

Let’s be steel and gold, shall we?

Technorati Tags: charity, abundance, gratitude, Hurricane Katrina, integrity, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

Our family members head home tomorrow. They should be able to get back to their houses safely, as they live about a 45-minute drive north of Gulfport. They know that their homes survived with minimal wind damage, although they lost many trees. But it’s been a traumatic experience. One family member rode out about 8 hours of terrifying winds alone in a metal building on his property. He said it sounded like a 747 was parked next door with engines roaring the whole time. His hours the day after were spent checking on neighbors, cutting up fallen trees with his chainsaw, and wondering if this was the end of things.

Churches where friends were married are gone. The apartment where my husband once lived is gone. Landmarks … gone.

There are so many people who died on the Gulf Coast in the hurricane (mostly from the rapid flooding) that — as far as I know — officials there are still concentrating their efforts for now on rescuing the living before they continue removing the dead. There are places where bodies are still floating in the water until the overwhelmed emergency workers can remove them; I know, one family member saw them Wednesday.

Whoever deemed this “our tsunami” was right indeed.

Our relatives are heading home with some of the things they’ll need to get through the weeks until power is restored — gasoline generators. Charcoal briquets. Jugs of water. Large gasoline cans that they’ll fill up where they can. Giant packages of toilet paper. The foods they like that will keep without refrigeration. Coolers full of ice for their perishables. They’ll have full tanks of gas and be in secure, sturdy vehicles. And we’ll be running down 1-2 times a month to take them and other family members some of the more difficult-to-obtain items as they run out. They’re already weary as they face the long months of cleanup efforts ahead. But they are alive, and the quiet celebration we’re all feeling in our hearts over that fact still buoys us.

Tomorrow, I return to my frumpy house (love you, house — you just need a better housekeeper than I’ll ever be), my usual family life (for which I’m more grateful than ever to still have), and yes, even my knitting (which challenges and comforts me). And I’ll do so with gratitude, hope, and prayers for those who can’t do the same quite yet.

Technorati Tags: Hurricane Katrina, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

Just some happy news to report: My in-laws, sister-in-law and husband and their kids, and brother-in-law are back in town staying with us and a family friend. I am *so* glad they are not on the road, trying to make it back to south Mississippi right now! They were heading home to check their properties, family members and friends yesterday when they began to hear the newscasts about just how impassable the roads are and how devastated the cities and counties down there are. They spent the night in Durant, Miss., and came back up.

I’ll bet my husband is glad they’re back too — especially since it means I won’t be e-mailing or calling him about every half hour (like I did on Tuesday), sending him news stories about the latest horrific hurricane news and pestering him to try calling them on their cell phones again to persuade them to come back for a while. If they can put up with my filthy house (why couldn’t this have been one of the few really “clean” weeks at Chez Loopy?), I’m grateful to have them here and safe.

I also heard from a dear old friend last night (hi, Sherman!) and for just a second or two my blood ran cold when I waited to hear whether he was passing along good news or tragedy. I was delighted to hear that another dear old friend, Bill, is safe with his sons and his parents and other family members — away from where his house *used* to be, just two blocks off the beach. It was also a relief to hear that my first ex-husband (still a buddy of Bill and Sherm) is also safe with his children and hopes to find some or all of his home still standing when he returns to the Coast. I hope home is still there for them.

As enormous of a tragedy as it is to lose a home and all of a lifetime’s possessions, the real treasures for Southern families — actually, families everywhere — are the treasures that walked and swam and drove away in safety.

I’m still appalled by the looters. People stealing baby food and water and diapers and toilet paper … well, I can understand the need. People stealing two-foot-high stacks of Snicker bar boxes? Designer sneakers? AK-47s? (??!!) Drugs? Jewelry and electronics? It’s anarchy. I’ve been told by a lifelong Gulf Coast resident that this opportunity is actually what some people stayed behind for — the five-finger discount opportunities that arise after the hurricane blows out of town. The mind boggles.

Instead, I’m trying to focus on the people who are doing something good — from the large to the small. Our company had a huge blood drive today, and so many came that they couldn’t use every volunteer. (Despite being a big queasy chicken when it comes to blood drives, I have my beige badge of courage still sticking in the crook of my arm after today’s donation.) Some people who live near the Gulf Coast but who escaped hurricane damage are volunteering the use of their homes so evacuees can shower or take refuge. Others are calling friends and relatives to get a laundry list of what they need, and they’re loading up their cars and heading down with sorely needed supplies.

There really *are* good people among the heart-breaking stories and the anarchy. Thank God. And if you are so inclined, please click here to be one of them; the American Red Cross is accepting donations. Here’s another site that lists links to multiple charitable agencies for people and pets suffering from the aftereffects of Hurrican Katrina.

Also — just to have a little knitting reference in this ol’ knitblog — I’m probably going to be way too busy scraping off the dusty or cluttered parts of my house surreptitiously over the next few days to do much, if any, knitting. (Hi, family, if you’re reading this! Just kidding — my house is always clean! Pretend to believe that, willya?) So postings will be slim or none for a while. But I’ll be back soon.

Technorati Tags: Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

I’ve just been surfing the web to see the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, and I’m overwhelmed, dismayed, crushed to see the devastation. And I’m also so grateful that — by all accounts we’ve heard so far — our family members and friends in Gulfport and Biloxi and McHenry (a bit further north) are safe. One had a tree damage part of his roof, but it could have been so much worse. A friend left his apartment with a backpack and his cat, and he came home to … no home at all. It seems unreal to think about the damage to places we’ve known for years.

I will breathe easier when I know everyone in our family is safe and accounted for. Some of their homes are just six miles from the beach. But as far as we know, they have all survived.

I hope the same is true for all of your family members, too. If you are online surfing for news today, the best local coverage seems to coming from the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s biggest newspaper, the Biloxi SunHerald. The photos and stories will absolutely break your heart.

My in-laws, sister-in-law, a niece and a nephew who were storm refugees this weekend are on their way back down to see how bad the damage was. I just hope they can get through safely. If you’re reading this, please add them and other residents of the Gulf Coast to your prayers today.

Technorati Tags: Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

I’ve been completely useless at work, checking cnn.com every few minutes, since they first announced that the Michael Jackson verdict was IN. And we just heard the news. I can’t believe he got off. Now I’m just wondering if he deliberately targeted children whose moms are con artists. (Wouldn’t that be diabolical. And just like him.) I’m sickened that my kids will grow up in a world that has him frolicking freely in it.

Comment to the American jury system: I have fading faith in you. This was what I expected. And dreaded. This freakazoid will see it as a vindication. I could just hurl.

Technorati Tags: Michael Jackson verdict, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm