How incredibly exciting!
Day 1- Monday, June 24, 2013:
My friend Amalia had helped me locate help in the form of a truck and driver to transport the Alder from Hunger Mountain to my project site in Stowe. Phil had the Alder loaded on the truck already when I got to Waterbury at noon, so, we were off. When we got to Cemetery Road in Stowe, which leads to the parking lot closest to my site there was a sign... "ROAD CLOSED".
Huh.
Clearly, there was work being done, but it looked like we could pass through. A short conversation with the guys working and they said go through now because in an hour the road is going to be closed for a couple days!
We went right along, stopping in the parking lot long enough to pull the willow from my car and get it into the back of the truck. Even though there were a couple spots of standing water Phil was able to drive the truck along the quiet path over to my spot with no trouble. Hurray!
We unloaded quickly and were on our way back out in no time.
I was extremely thankful to not have to walk the Alder in, even though it is, I discovered, a very light wood.
Thanks Phil! No doubt I will be getting plenty of walking and lugging of Willow and tools in over the course of the next week or so.
My spot had been weed wacked but needed mowing before I could start. I wasn't sure if that was actually going to happen soon or not, so I went off for an email check at Black Cap Coffee and then located the back way to the parking area by way of the cemetery... as I was heading in I met Bruce heading out with his mower, and he confirmed he had just mowed my site.
I was good to go!
Awesome. I found my way to the parking lot. Got my backpack loaded with tools and water bottle. Grabbed my metal rod and headed over to begin.
By this time the blue skies had turned grey. "That's okay", I thought, "rather not have to coat myself in sunscreen anyway".
I had a leisurely 2 minute walk in and just as I reached my destination heard the first rumbles of thunder blowing in from the west. It didn't take long before the rumbles got worse and I decided this was not a good time to do anything but head back to the car.
The way circumstances had been turning in my life lately, I didn't think standing in a clearing with a metal rod in a thunder and lightening storm was a good idea, all things considered!
There's always tomorrow.
Day 2- Tuesday, June 25, 2013:
My site... the square of kind of yellowish, freshly mowed grass. This is the view looking east.
Of course.
I intended to use grade stakes to layout where all the uprights were going to go, anticipating that I might do a little adjusting along the way. But, I forgot to get my grade stakes from Jericho when I was there last week, and didn't really want to spend money buying more. Or take the time since I had lost 3 entire days, so I just decided to go for it!
Layout went smoothly, and then I was on to making the holes. To do this I use a 6 foot long, 18 pound rod which is pointy at one end and on the other has a 2-3 inch chisel point.
The pointy end is the one to use for making the holes. In case that wasn't obvious.
The weight of the rod does a great job of gaining depth, you just have to lift it out then let it fall back into the same hole. The important thing though, and one of the things the guys always got a big kick out of reminding me about in England, is to "do a lot of wiggling" of the rod in the hole with each drop. That way you are increasing the diameter of the hole gradually and consistently. If you don't do that, it is very difficult to get the hole wide enough, and even more difficult to get the rod back out. The wetter the ground the more suction is created too, thereby increasing the difficulty of rod removal by about 1000%. With all the rain we've been having, the ground is pretty saturated. I had my work cut out for me, that's for sure.
(Hello tummy muscles. Nice to see you again!)
So. Wiggle the rod with every drop. Very, very important.
I had quite a momentum going, drop the rod, wiggle big circles left, big circles right pull the rod out and drop it again... I was lost in thought. Deeply enjoying the sunshine, and birdsong, and general peacefulness of my project site along the rec path. Drop, wiggle left, wiggle right, lift, drop, wiggle left, wiggle right, lift... Suddenly, something hit me on my left temple with such force that I actually saw stars. Ouch.
Any ideas what it was?
Some of you maybe have guessed... It was the chisel pointed top end of the rod I was using. Yes, that's right, I had knocked myself silly. Good grief.
Note to self. Maybe pay a little less attention to the birdies and the pretty blue sky and a little more attention to where the top end of that rod is at any given moment.
I do still have a sore spot on my left temple.
I got the holes for the sides made, the Alder in and looped over and joined with the ones on the other side forming the beginning of the 'roof'. Got the center back piece of Alder in and woven through the 'roof' arches before the first rumble of thunder inspired me to pack up my tools and head towards the car.
This is what it looked like at the end of the day. Progress!
