Digging in the Rain

Yesterday was planned for the completion of the new garden wall project.  Mother Nature and New England had other plans.  First my wife had to face something she is terrified of – public speaking. 

Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday and our church reached out to people to read one part of the mass in different languages.  My wife was asked to translate and do the Spanish version.  She fretted all week, did multiple translations using her new I-Pad app (shout out again to son-in-law), and was convinced she would be terrible.  She was, of course, brilliant and delivered her lines flawlessly and if I might add – elegantly.  I was/am very proud of her. 

My Wife in Church Yesterday - Nailing It!

It was kind of neat hearing thirteen different languages saying the same thing.  It was also impressive that a small town like Charlton could come up with people who spoke thirteen different languages but its an indicator of how small and diversified the world is becoming.  America’s greatest strength lies in its diversity and it was on display in a small way yesterday at church.

I made my way to Home Depot for another load of stone for the wall under increasingly threatening skies.  I didn’t have to contend with any disgruntled former employees this time though.  I got back to digging in my rock farm when it started raining.  My wife immediately abandoned her flower planting even though she was under a canopy – the woman refuses to get wet. 

My Wife (Safely Inside) Captured my Best Side Working on the Wall

She was aghast that I continued to work in the rain and said I should at least put on a rain jacket.  Anyone who’s ever dug into the earth knows the last thing you want on your back is plastic adding to the already discomforting feelings.  The rain was light but steady and I made some good progress.  I went inside to take a break and check on the Red Sox only to find one of their pitchers had a perfect game going on fairly well into the game.

I had considered giving up the project for the day until that point.  I didn’t want to jinx the perfect game so I went back out into the rain.  I later learned the prefect game was ruined five minutes after I left.  I’m learning, once again, the trials of living on a hillside.  I’m doing a good job of keeping the wall level (despite the earnest efforts of the rock strewn soil), but the bottom row keeps disappearing into the hillside.  This means adding yet another row which makes the down hill side higher and higher.  The three row wall my wife called for will end up being six (so far) at the end when I’m finished. I’m going to have to be very careful when I back out of the garage in the future. 

As Far AS I Got Yesterday
You Can See the Third Row (Downhill Side) Disappearing into the Hill Uphill

I wasn’t able to get to the end of the uphill bottom row because eventually I was just moving mud around and trying to level bricks in pools of water.  I abandoned the plan to head back to Home Depot for another load until I have a better idea of what the scope of the expanded need is.

I went inside to catch the third period of a rousing Bruins playoff win over New York – SWEET!  The Red Sox were in a rain delay (I know how that feels) but eventually won with Minnesota helping out by deflecting a ball over the wall for a home run.  I got my wife to re-watch Cloud Atlas with me and she enjoyed it so much more when I could explain all the jumping around the multiple plots do.  This also reaffirmed Cloud Atlas as the best movie of last year and one of my all time favorites. 

Today my wife and I start on a new adventure – a ketogenic diet.  I knew I would have to change something when the doctors forbade me from running anymore and this seemed like the most palatable of options.  My esteemed son in law follows this and achieved great results which he bombarded my wife with a couple weeks ago.  He did say it could be modified to allow beer – case closed.



I got to be honest with you – a diet that allows the re-birth of a sorely missed breakfast tradition for me – cheeseburgers – can’t be all bad.   This adventure starts today and I’m kind of sneaky looking forward to it.  Just another thing, amongst a multitude, that we are grateful to our son in law for.  I will miss the popcorn and chocolate cake though.