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The Joy Of Work
(even when it's rock hard)
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Pencil
drawing - Sylvia Roff-Marsh |
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"When faced with a challenge, I just have to
have a go at it."
Last Saturday evening, I found a beautiful
lavender colored "pudding" stone (embedded with
numerous small chips of red, white, and other colored stones) in
one of our large rock piles. This one had a high rim around the
top with a lower center like a bit of a crater in it. I just had
to have that unusual rock. It looked like it might be a long,
skinny one, which wouldn't be too hard to handle once I got it
dug out. It was about 1½ feet (45cm) down from the top
of the rim with only a sliver showing.
On Sunday, about 1 p.m. I headed back with my
shovel and two pry bars and some 4"x 4" (10 cm square)
posts with which to make a ramp up into the bed of my old
pickup. As I dug out the rocks around it, I discovered
that it was much larger than I had anticipated, weighing
probably 300 pounds (136kg) or more. By 5:30 p.m. I had
inched it almost up to the top of the pile by prying up on the
rock and slipping stones in under it. I also made a 'slide' down the side of the pile with guide rocks
along the edges and dirt over the rocks in the center to the
"ramp" (which was actually horizontal posts laid side
by side) to help the large rock skid down the side with some
control. By 8:20 p.m. the rock was on my truck and by 9:15 p.m.
the rock was unloaded. Now that was a satisfying day!
The next morning, I thought about the house
that didn't get cleaned and the yard that didn't get mowed, and
started to feel a little guilty. But I chalked it up to
having a "mini vacation" day. I like digging holes
almost second to hauling rocks. My dad just shakes his head and
tells me I use up an awful lot of energy with projects like
that. So this weekend, just for my enjoyment, I proceeded
to get out the mower and mow both lanes in a strip about 10 feet
(3m) across. The top lane only goes back to the gate to
the gravel pit, about 100 ft
(30m) long . The South lane
goes back 1/4 mile (400m) to the woods and creek.
After finishing those, I mowed the south lawn,
the "island" inside the circle drive, out in front
of the picket fence, and part of the north yard. That was
my fun this weekend.
They say it takes all kinds...and some of us
just have to be a bit unusual. Ha!
I haven't even gotten the tiller out this
spring yet, so next weekend will probably be devoted to that,
weather permitting. If I ever get to Australia I'll let
you know and you can have holes ready for me to dig!
- Beverly Lyon
Mason, Michigan, U.S.A.
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