From India, who along with Ellen helped get the Warm Hats Not Hot Heads campaign going in January, wherein our fellow knitters helped us get 262 handknit hats sent to members of Congress to ask them to work respectfully and peaceably with one another:
“WARM HATS, WARM HEARTS
On August 28, Hurricane Irene visited Vermont. Although my town was spared the worst, many towns throughout the state suffered devastating flooding. My husband’s brother, sister, and mother narrowly escaped the rising waters of the Mad River, which inundated their home and their village, soaking everything in its path, taking out roads and bridges, and leaving behind inches of muck and piles of debris.
My family was lucky. Many of their things, including their clothing, are salvageable. But many others are not so fortunate. Though it is still quite warm here, we all know that soon the weather will turn much colder, and people will reach for that favorite sweater or scarf, only to remember that it’s gone.
I’m collecting donations of handknit hats, scarves, mittens, sweaters, socks, blankets, baby items, and knitted toys, items for anyone from babies through adults, to distribute to flood survivors in Vermont and upstate New York. If you would like to ply your needles for people in need, please contact me, India Tresselt, at warmhearts2@gmail.deletethesefourwordscom. Thank you!”
(I’m writing the email address that way to defeat those who would flood it with unwanted messages by the gross.)
And anything else we can do, India, please let us know. Thank you for looking out for those around you in ways the rest of us wish we could directly–although, needles in hand, whether we get to see their faces or only wish we could, still, yes. We can!
Writing this from California, the thought of real cold with one’s belongings gone, homes gone, work, gone: we lived in New Hampshire for four years. Our last winter there, I remember shoveling the seven and a half feet of snow that fell in seventeen days and the wind chill factor of minus 25 going on during a cold snap. A hat or a scarf there is not just for fun and fashion but an utter necessity.