Sunday, April 15, 2007

Snow Falling on Cedars

I once read the book (which I believe was made into a movie) "Snow Falling on Cedars", and was fairly disappointed to find that it wasn't about cedars at all. Okay, maybe that was a metaphor or something but the book itself was really good. But that's not what I'm here to discuss.


Gentlemen, Start Your Shovels

I awoke this morning after a long and restful (and well-deserved) sleep. I pre-fed the cats last night so they would leave me alone this morning and nestled into my cozy bed around midnight.

I had spent the day out at JO's house digging holes, measuring Sonotubes, carrying concrete bags, leveling, re-leveling, thrice-checking the levels, backfilling, etc. until my poor lower back was aching. Then I slammed half a pizza and hit the road. I'm usually pretty good on the road, even at night, but last night I came scarily close to falling asleep at the wheel. Maybe it was the short sleep the night before, or the hours of backbreaking manual labor (for which my desk job does not adequately prepare me), or the half a pie I ate. Whatever the reason, I really should have accepted the offer to crash at the O's house. Lesson learned? I think not. I love sleeping in my own bed too much.

I'm not going to get too much into it because most of you won't care, but trying to build a deck to code when your door is only a step above the ground is practically impossible. Forget any traditional techniques for doing anything and pick up a shovel. The one good thing about the job was that we hit one, count it, one rock. I dug two holes for my deck last summer and hit a rock every 3 inches. This was like digging on the beach, except it was cold and we had a gas-powered auger instead of a plastic shovel, but you get the point.

Anywho, I awoke this morning to the distinct sound of snow falling outside. Traffic sounds different and I could hear the tink-tink of the dinner plate sized flakes pounding my windows. I've been sitting in my recliner all morning, sipping homemade cappuccino and watching snow fall on the cedars outside my window. It's very relaxing except for the fact that it's April 15th and it's still snowing. My last post, dated April 1st, discussed how I was going to go for a bike ride but instead worked out in the yard in shorts and a t-shirt. Today I probably won't leave the house, except maybe to bring in some firewood.




Over and Out,
Old Coot

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"Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him.' and I just took off." -Pre