~The Sky Above~

~The Earth Below~

I'm a bit tired tonight so the words are not coming easily. I've started doing some long overdue yard reconstruction. Right now I'm moving some of my walking paths into a more pleasing design, with extra turns and curves. That means moving mounds of dirt, rocks and relocating existing water drainage ways. A lot of pick and shovel worked, sifting soil and wheelbarrowing. Here in the desert we have something call caliche, a layer of concentrated calcium carbonate that forms under the top layer of dirt. It's usually located several inches under the surface and becomes hard as a rock with time. I don't have a jackhammer so I have to use something called a caliche bar. The steel bar is about 6 feet long and 2 inches across, with a tip 3 inched wide that looks like a chisel. One uses this bar to break through the 2 to 6 inches of caliche, one chip at a time. Did I mention that the caliche bar weighs around 27 pounds, you need that weight as inertia to break out the soil. I'm so tired from slinging that bar, digging, picking, shoveling, then moving the soil and rocks to their new location, sometimes 20 feet away, sometimes 220 feet away. Wow, I got tired just proofreading this blog!

So goodnight from a tuckered out ol' TucsonJim ;o)


A Greater Firmament