Faces in a crowd. When the weather is nice, people wander and mingle. This meandering is often without purpose. They bring a little cash to spend--mostly on food and drink--but there are usually stores or booths selling decorative oddities or t-shirts that they will occasionally buy. The attraction, though, is the crowd. Everybody likes to be in one, to see what is going on, to people watch. I just like to make a record of my time.
The other part of life is staying home and fixing up the house. I did plenty of that this weekend. I decided to cut some big ligustrums that had gotten too leggy. I couldn't stop. They aren't even shadows of what they used to be. I mean I really went to town. One should be careful with such things. There is no putting it back. I'm hoping, though, that they will look good again by summer's end. I will give them plenty of fertilizer and water. We shall see.
But one fact of life is this: no matter how much work you do on and around the house, there is always more to do than you have just done. Way leads to way. As I begin my cleanup, I have become overwhelmed. And bored with work. Maintenance is a terrible thing. I am lucky that I have friends who will help me. Ili can't wait to begin the destruction of the deck. She wants to use the big crowbar and start ripping the shit out of things. I am amazed. She is younger than I, so it is only right, I think. I will let her do the heavy lifting. Another friend is coming to help as well. As we sat out on the rotten deck and drank beers yesterday in the late afternoon of one of God's most perfect days, we wondered what we would do with all the wood? We will cut it up into three foot long pieces, so hauling it is not the problem. Where will it land? I said I still had the key to the dumpster at the old studio. That seemed a good possibility. But I don't know if I can bring myself to do it. I am, for all my bad talk, a moral kid deep down. There are few wrongs I will allow myself. So the problem of discarding the old deck looms.
50 twelve foot two by fours. That is what it will take to redo the deck. I am letting the house repairman do the framing so that it is done right. But Ili, my friend, and I will put down fifty twelve foot 2x4s with two nails ever three feet. That's twelve nails per board. My arthritic hands already hurt. Ili is looking forward to pounding nails. It is not just destruction that is fun, I guess.
There will be photos.
This is going to be a beautiful week weather-wise. I've been told that you should never make a hyphenated word using "wise" at the end, that this is just terrible writing. Grammar-wise, I might agree, but writing-wise, it seems o.k. to me. The point is, though, that I am going to be at the factory all week and will miss this beautiful weather for the most part. If I do take a day off, it will only be to rip up the deck on Friday. If you want a good vacation this week, though, you should come here. It is the sort of weather of which you dream. These are the sort of days to which San Diego lays claim, only prettier because it is not San Diego if you know what I mean.
Come and see the crowds that gather. You can go to a theme park or to a resort. Bring your camera. The crowd's the thing. You can see for yourself--in your own time.
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