Sad Times

I haven't had the heart to post to my blog for a long time now. Times have been rough on the Gulf Coast.

The largest oil spill in our nation's history pumped millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. That oil began washing onto the pristine Alabama shoreline shortly after my mother's visit and our early morning beach trips. Instead of sugar white shores, we now have beaches marred with oil and chemical dispersant. At times, increasingly rare beautiful white sand covers the oil and at other times, waves and wind expose the hidden, buried oil. The beaches may never recover.

If the oil wasn't bad enough, millions of gallons of hazardous chemicals have been applied to the oil to sink it out of sight. These chemicals, called Corexit, are hazardous to life and health and they fill our local waters and beaches. Corexit is more dangerous than oil in part. because it is not readily seen. Local testing has uncovered Corexit on the beaches and in the local waterways.( Testing Finds Oil and Dispersant) Local beach residents have seen planes continuing to carpet bomb local waterways with the chemical despite official statements to the contrary. (Stress of Oil Spill Still Lingers) People cough and wheeze and suffer from congestion, including my own family. No one knows whether we are suffering from chemical exposure or unusual allergies or a really bad cold season. (Covert Spraying of the Gulf) A few people, who could afford blood testing, discovered oil and chemical residues in their bodies. (Gulf Coast Crud) The rest of us, if we think about it at all, are left to wonder. The media has been banned from all clean-up operations and the government wants us to believe the crises has ended. Yet oil and toxic chemicals still bathe our shores.

Many people here are out of work and businesses are failing. Our area relies on tourism and fishing for much of it's economy. Who wants to eat poisoned seafood or vacation on a toxic beach? Some do. Those who believe the propaganda. My family won't be returning to the beach or eating seafood for many, many years. There is no joy in living in this area any longer except for the company of the few good friends we've made in the year we've lived here.

Finally, our own family is feeling the pinch of these economic times. We have joined the ranks of the unemployed. Kurt has been out of work for a couple of weeks and we are currently a zero income family hoping for unemployment insurance to kick in and relieve some of the pain. It would only cover about a third of our bills, but we are praying. We know God has a plan in all of this and He will provide. Even if we lose our home and everything else material, we know God will protect us and provide for our needs. We wait upon Him and send out resumes whenever we see something even remotely fitting. We have also sent resumes out of the area, though those are few. My dream in all of this would be to be able to move to a cooler region in the country, one unaffected by oil and dispersant. Kurt would like to be able to go to school full time and finish his degree. Finding work begins to feel like an elusive dream.

If you think about our family over the next days, weeks and months, please pray for us. Pray for our coastal communities too.