“Can you come out to the place with me when I go feed the horses?” Moe asked one summer afternoon, a few weeks after mom passed away. “There's something I want to show you.”
“I guess,” I answered absentmindedly. The girls were watching TV, it wasn't yet time for dinner, and I really didn't have anything pressing to do right then. We were slowly getting back to normal , now that mom's funeral was over and all the family had gone home. I'd cleaned the house good the day before, my welfare visits were done for the week, and I didn't have to prepare my next Relief Society lesson for a couple of months. “Just let me tell the girls where we're going, and I'll meet you in the car.”
“Did the septic people do the perk test today?” I asked as we drove out of town and up the hill towards our five acres. Now that we didn't need to take care of mom, it was time to get ready to build our house.
“Yes, they dug a huge hole right in front of where the house will be,” Moe told me, “and they said it looked real good. They didn't run into any clay, just straight sand as far as they could tell. If we pass, they'll be able to put in the septic tank in a couple of weeks.”
That was exciting! It looked like we might actually get our house built this time.
“I took the men back to show them your pond,” Moe continued. “They were really impressed!”
I looked at my husband in surprise. “Really?” I'd thought Moe was just kind-of humoring me as I dug my pond. I, myself, was having a ball, and the pond was really taking shape. It was much bigger than I'd imagined when I started, it kind of seemed to have a life of it's own and was evolving as it grew. So far I'd dug down over six feet in the center, and extended the edges thirty feet on both sides, curving the middle and turning the pond into a sort of boomerang shape.
“They couldn't believe you dug that whole thing by yourself, with just a shovel and a wheelbarrow,” Moe laughed. “They said you must be some sort of wonder woman.”
“Well, you know better,” I grinned. “But I am getting in better shape, at least.”
We drove up to the gate and Moe stopped the car so I could get out and unlock it.. “Just leave it open, he told me as he drove in. “The horses will be too busy eating to care about getting out, and we can close it when we leave.”
While Moe fed the horses I wandered over to the east part of our property, where a big pile of dirt marked the perk test. There was an impressive trench, at least ten or fifteen feet deep and probably just as long, dug into the dirt.
“Pretty cool,” Moe said as he walked up beside me. “But there's something back here that I want you to see, too.”
Moe grabbed my hand and started walking toward my pond in the far back corner.
At first I couldn't see anything different because of all the cedar trees blocking our view. There was my growing pile of dirt mounded up behind the pond in what I hoped would one day become a sort of bluff, but then, as we walked around some trees, I saw something new. A hug mountain of dirt on this side of the pond!
“The back-hoe driver did it,” Moe explained happily, pulling me over to the edge of the pond so I could see down into the hole. “He took out another five feet for you in the middle!”
Wow! My hole in the ground really was deep now, and looked amazing, but now there was a huge mountain of dirt, right in the middle of another part of my pond! Darn it! Now I was going to have to dig it out all over again!
Of course, I didn't tell Moe that. It had been sweet of him to show off my pond in the first place, and nice of the back-hoe driver to help me out, and I certainly didn't want to make either one of them feel bad, but, darn, after all the work I'd done, it sure was daunting to think about having to move that mountain out of my pond!
No comments:
Post a Comment