Day 61 (Thurs., July 29)

Today I was slapped in the face. And as a result I woke up. The thing responsible for the handing me the slap was life. Today, a day after my camera decided to fall asleep and not wake up, I was shown the real value of life. First, I have to say that I was needed in the Al Dia office really early today. Turns out photo editor Bobby Sanchez and staff photographer Sharon Steinmann were out this morning. Bobby was out because he had spent most of the night in the hospital. Yesterday was his day off and he decided to do his usual mountain biking trip. However, he was in an accident on the trail and suffered severe injuries. Sharon also had an incident yesterday while covering an assignment. She was rear-ended by a speeding sports utility vehicle and her car was totaled. So, obviously, the loss of my camera became very small compared to their accidents.

The two photos featured today are that of a family from Lancaster, Texas. Yeah, the town is named just like Lancaster, California, so I sort of felt close to home when I went there. I went out on assignment using my beat-up, confusing back-up camera, but I didn't care. The sights and sounds of the town made my loss seem very simple. It turns out, the rain from last night was so much that it was estimated that 10 inches of rain covered the Dallas area within a five-hour span. This caused flooding in places where it's not likely to happen. We met a family at the Red Cross shelter here in Lancaster. We decided to tag along to their house to see what damages the water had caused to their home. It turns out, the water rose over four feet high in the middle of the night. The family members said they were sleeping when their house got flooded. It was a scary time as they had to walk out in the middle of waist-high, and higher, water to a safe location at 2 a.m. This family lost EVERYTHING. Thinking about my camera made me feel selfish as it was a simple loss compared to this family, and the rest of the families on that block. The top photo shows the lady of the house cleaning up while mud and kitchenware cover the floor of her kitchen. The bottom photo shows the lady cleaning up most of the items that were covered in mud, including a photo of her 1-year-old granddaughter.

 

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