NDART

I had a job interview today. It was for a volunteer position for NDART (National Disaster-Animal Response Team). It's run by the Humane Society of the U.S. under FEMA direction. I came across the site one evening while I was entertaining myself Internet surfing (does one still say that they surf the Internet? it feels like such a 90's phrase). Anyway, I filled out the on-line application thinking it could be an interesting cause to get involved in. Then I received a few emails that filled me in on what a big deal it is! It made me feel happy that I could possibly get involved in something like this, and a bit intimidated that this organization had my information and that they would be contacting me to do an interview! Today, I spoke to a very nice man on the phone and we went through an hour and a half phone interview. I think it went well. What this means is 1) I need to back involved in my local humane society (cleaning cat cages); 2) I need to get hepatitis A & B shots, and 3) I get to take a bunch of fun, free courses from the FEMA web site. Maybe I will be fully prepared by the time there is a disaster in the mid-west... which is most likely to be a tornado. One of the questions on the interview was: Have you ever been in a disaster situation? Of course I said I had with the 1980 tornadoes. The interviewer asked, "did it really sound like a freight train?" because he'd obviously heard this from other tornado survivors. I assured him that indeed it was a freight train, and that there was no other way to describe it. It also reminded me that one of the most prominent memories of the tornado aftermath was seeing the dead horses from the pasture near our house. One horse was partially laying in a basement. I couldn't help but imagine the family that lived in that house had to climb up the stairs of what used to be their house and step over that poor, dead, white horse when the threat was over... and how freaked out kitty was during the storm.

I feel energized. I feel like I have a plan or a goal to reach or something to work toward. I have a list of courses that I should take, and a list of vaccines that i should get. Maybe I'll feel like I've accomplished something when next May, I get the call that I'm needed in Juniata, NE and I can go there and help rescue animals after a destructive tornado. How many people in Juniata have pets, do you suppose?