I just came back from feeding the fish in the pond and could hardly breathe. I pet my outside dogs and a cloud of yellow dust flies off their backs. I can't sit on any outdoor furniture without leaving a very unflattering imprint of my butt. But, such is Spring on the mountain in the middle of the forest. This will pass soon.
While my dad was sick, we had a lot of rain, hard rain that washed down the mountain in waterfalls, the force of it bringing dirt and debris along. It was during one of these rains that part of my 200 foot long retaining wall behind the house was knocked down.
Upon inspection by experts, it was found that the 50 year old wall was compromised in many places and couldn't be patched because eventually it would fall in other places. This is the wall that keeps the mountain from rolling down into the back of the house so fixing it or not wasn't an option.
So, once again within the past 12 months, I find myself in cohabitation with back hoes, mounds of dirt, rebar, giant concrete trucks and workers. The guys are kind enough to explain the process as we go and answer my endless questions about the hows and whys of the project. I am probably as annoying as a 5 year old boy would be watching the process, but they have been very kind and tolerant.
And I need to learn. Who knows when I might have to participate in this process myself. Stranger things have happened around here!
