Part IX:
I had the feeling that I was back in the saddle. The coolness of the morning had faded, but there was no sun shining through the branches above. I couldn’t have asked for a more pleasant afternoon. The thoughts that had been cluttering my mind were now a distant memory and I felt ready to take on the task at hand. Maybe it was the sound of the saw spinning or the sense of accomplishment, but I was in a groove.
I paused the saw for a second to call down to Loretta, “Once you have everything in order down there, come on up and help me clear away some of these larger pieces.”
Most of the day we switched back and forth between keeping an eye on the ground level and performing the work up top, removing the rock. I felt that it was about time we started joining our effort together. A large pile of rock that had been removed from the area we were working on was beginning to pile up and get in the way. Every time I created too much vibration with the saw, the rocks would bounce around and get in my way. I knew we could make better progress if we worked together to remove it.
Loretta came up behind me, calling, “Is everything okay? Did you want me to take over?”
“No,” I recoiled, “I have an idea. I would like to collect the loose rocks from around here and move them down to ground level. They are starting to build up and get in the way.”
To be continued…