The Lab of Life

For the past several days I have been trying to figure out how to post again. I feared I had set loose a solitary blog post that would travel through cyberspace for eternity without context or hope of further connection (a fear I carry for myself at times). But Jamie, my youngest, although very old for her 29 years, in less than an hour, set me on the right path and all is well.

Things have happened in the aforementioned days that I wanted to tell you about and now its time to remember them...hmmm.

Well there was the singular human heavy equipment operator: As most of the world by now knows I am entangled in a massive project that has so far threatened to span an entire 4 years, which is building a large building out of Cob (clay, sand, straw, and water in sticky sculptable mixture). In pursuit of the completion of this foolishness I have been plastering the inside walls lately. For the very highest part I needed to be much taller than my own 5'5.75" would provide and the scaffolding called for creative measures.

Enter the behemoth platform of great length and heft. Like 16' long and HEAVILY constructed to measure only about 12" wide! It was languishing out back in a tangle of vines and needed to be moved single handedly (actually I used both hands -was that cheating?) up hill and around a few tight corners and finally up onto two scaffolds inside the building. I was thrilled with the living physics show that was unfolding minute by minute featuring the fulcrum, in its many costumes, as the star of the extravaganza. There were props and blocks and lifts and grunts and several ouches and in the end a hearty EUREKA! It was gripping adventure that totally distracted me from the often nagging sensation that someone should drop in and do this for me. I realized that it is certainly not work that I disdain but rather impediments to speed.

I constantly strive to rev my vital forces up to the speed at which they can do the bidding of my imagination in not-so-real time. So the visitor whom I have been summoning with my wishes would, I guess, have to be able to descend on the scene and solve the problem simultaneously (there would probably be a puff or two of smoke. Anything not to slow down the illusion that as fast as I can think it, it must be done.

To conclude, the tallest wall is thoroughly plastered. Now to return the colossus (reminds me of olives)to the viney outback. I think I'll put that off for a while.

I'd better get back to cobbing up the built in bench which I am stuffing with debris and extraneous materials to save on cob -lest year 5 creep up to the finish line overtaking an exausted year 4. And this being the hottest day in a string of near centenary degree days (that word may be reserved for people but I like to try new things)