Manure contemplations

March 29, 2007
on the road in New Zealand

March 29, 2008
celebrating the building of a kickass work bench

Yesterday, I shoveled poo out of a barn for the first time in my life. There is something inherently contemplative about this activity - perhaps it's the idea that shoveling shit ranks low on life's ambition list.

Well, I got to tell you - I LOVED IT! Except, I was a bit concerned that the dry poo was kicking up a lot of dust. As I was inhaling it, I asked Bill if we should be worried about diseases - could I get bovine encephalitis from horse poo???

(before)

(after)

After getting silly questions and the need to say "bovine encephalitis" out of the way, I started thinking about how we got to be shoveling shit in our barn in Indiana on a weekend. A year ago we were in New Zealand, having just tried pâté for the first (and last) time.

Photos of March 29, 2007:

We were drinking lots of wine, eating fancy cheeses and trying not to worry about the jobs in DC that (for various political reasons) we were both very possibly going to lose - imminently. My job involved working on outreach materials - convincing people to get involved with an organization I hated...a different kind of shoveling shit.

Photos of March 29, 2008:

Working in our barn yesterday afternoon, I realised I felt infinitely better about how I spent that day than I ever did after a day of work in DC. Three cheers for literal poo shoveling!

PPFFFFTTT!!!!!!

Seems like a good time to start to redo the fireplace. First step - demolish existing hearth. 3/4 inch thick marble tiles are nice on the front. On the back, you know, right next to the stovepipe that exceeds 1000 degrees, what do we find... Is that wood??? Why yes it is little Timmy! Plywood and 2x4s!!! Awesome.





Well, the bottom of the hearth looks pretty nice, looks like maybe they set the tile on another piece of plywood, laid that down... hopefully we can just pry it up and move it, right...?

Oh... They set the tiles directly onto the hardwood floors? Oh.... well. I guess at least we know the minimum size of our new hearth.

On a side note, she thinks my tractor is sexy!

Sugary goodness!

The maple sap is starting to flow!