The Avant Garden

... and it made a big difference in my day. I'll spare you the details of my arrival home yesterday. "Underfoot" is now "Buffy" and living (and shitting) at my mother-in-law's house. We'll see how long that lasts. My fingers are crossed.

 Yesterday, after Joshua got home and we did his homework, he agreed to come down to the River with me to watch as I repaired SickArch:   who had become DeadArch. I told him I needed him there to call 911 in case I fell in and water flooded my waders and I was drowning, and he asked, "Do I have to?" Then he said, "That's not going to really happen, is it? Can you ...uh...give me percentages here?" In a rare moment of adulthood, as we got down to the River I decided it was too high and fast to try it. So I went back today and did this:
I'll make him higher next time; I was missing a rock

without his watchful eye. I wore my super-gripper shoes and took one of Rob's walking sticks and this guy stood second drop of the keystone. I had to get him up before the rains come. In the morning, I hope to see water running through him and then knock him over. His working title is HealthyArch, but I am open to suggestions.  

This is March Madness at work ... the cabins downstream from us were great until the floods of Sept. took five (I think) of 12 units. The dish is in what used to be a gravel parking lot/Riverside campsite kinda area.
Let's sneak off with it just before tipoff...

...and who can say that this:
Is this your dog?

isn't about the cutest thing they've ever seen? 'dorable.

I took this artsy-fartsy picture today and then wiggled its line until it was totally black and white:
I hope this looks better on your monitor than on mine. Let me know.

Rocks are migrating in the back yard, slowly moving towards my house and out of the floodplain. I started by moving this Stone Age Jetson's Maid thing:
Her name is Hazel ...

More to follow tomorrow.

Anne has taken Matt to his high school orientation. I will soon have a kid in high school ... yikes.

My column went well. It's not too different from Sunday's Blog entry, though I left the part about the EasterArch. I was working on the column  last night and it occurred to me that I should go to Bent Creek and see if anyone had put a sign up around there. So about 20:30, Anne and I drove out to the trailheads and signposts, mainly so I could write in my column that I've done everything logical to find this dog's home. Maybe that is the theme of that column ... that though we are all non-conformists in some ways, there are certain things we should all do exactly alike and losing and finding dogs is one of them ... part of the social contract is bringing home dogs (within reason -- I wouldn't have stopped for a pit bull) and doing certain things to make it easy for the "lost" party to find you. Naaaah -- it's about finding a lost puppy that piddles a lot. It flowed (the column) outta me, as opposed to last week's, which I had to drag outta me.
This guy stands still, e'en thru the nite's hi winds

I am hoping the River will go down enough between rains that I can get in and repair SickArch: . The flow is perfect after the last few days' rains that if he were standing, water would flow through him. Several neighbors have requested it.

... the Easter bunny had to come this morning, and after that I went for a drive. I took the BluRP over to the Bent Creek Experimental Forest and it was so foggy in some places I had to just hope there was no one in front of me as I poked along at 25mph. This demanded doing as I drove by:
Wins, "Best Arch" in the "Precarious Footing" category

It's on the road through Bent Creek. The surface I had to stand on to do him was wet, leafy rock, but he fell into place first drop of the keystone. To minimize environmental damage, I took rocks from downhill and moved them uphill to do the stack, and all rocks came from atop another rock. I am deroding instead of eroding.

After stopping to take this photo: 

I found a poor little lost dog and had to coax her in the car and bring her home. She showed her gratitude by leaving a pile of sticks and wooly-boogers that had been in her fur and ears in the back seat of my car. You can't call the Animal Shelter on Easter Sunday, there was no "lost dog" ad in the AC-T for her, so this: will be with us for at least the next 24 hours. I'm off to bathe it now. Working title is "Underfoot."

... because my mother or wife might read the Blog and give me a talk about slowing down or seeing a doctor or taking up remote control airplanes instead, but my right arm has given me fits lately. Sometimes I have tingling and numbness in it, sometimes it hurts all the way from my fingertips into my spine. Let's talk about other things ... Wednesday I went hiking up to sorta scout out a place I might stack or something, but the area I was in was too pristine and nice. The rocks were all covered in moss and I just can't rip it up. I did take this photo of this cool tree:
I admire his will to live ...

Thursday I went to Letty and Hugo Linares's house to fix up their totem:
 which fell during the high winds of last week. Friday I went up the BluRP to the MST and found some downed trees to hide amongst. I wasn't going to do this silly four-rock arch:
T'was more difficult than it looks ... 

but then I started to do it and it was actually difficult, so I left it up. It evolved into this mess:
Not spectacular, but easy on the arm 

which was more difficult to do than it looks, as wood isn't totally rocksolid.

At the rockpile by the car, I decided to do this easy balance:
Rock B is probably a 30-pounder ...

It looks better from this side:
Dancin' in the twilight ...

Anne has been asking me about fixing up the flower beds in the front, and today I got started on it. I rebuilt this wall in the front yard: 
I did the rocks and then winter came ...parts of which had fallen.

Here's a closeup of the arch in the middle:
Anne and I laid the keystone together ...

I worked pretty hard today, am pleasantly tired. Also went to Wal-Mart today and cooked pork chops. I didn't cook pork chops at Wal-Mart, though.

... a little stacking on Monday is about all I have accomplished recently. I did this guy:
My friend Bea would say, "Ooh la la!"

on Saturday afternoon, and as I sit here Tuesday at 17:37, he is still standing. Even in the pouring rain.

I went on the attack against Oriental Bittersweet Sunday, clearing a good pile of it out of the back yard.

Monday I just had a little time and was in a bad mood, so I just hiked up the MST and added CupHandleArch (working title "CHArch"): 

I'm the guy in the middle; the one in the white hat

Today it is pouring so I just managed to get in a quick hike and litter pickup. I did take this foggy photo of PaydayArch and his friend:
I like to make 'em in pairs ... everyone deserves someone 

The days are getting longer. Mighty Spring is just around the corner. I have so many ideas that I'd like to see go from my brain to my hands that I am bursting. But I have to decide on one project to aim for, and I think I have decided. I just need a place. And material, and money and time ... I've decided against the 6 foot (A to A) arch from one rock in the River to another. Too close to the Phyllis Steins of the world (that was funny -- you should have chortled). But I have a zillion other ideas. If only I could pour that much energy into my column-writing. Sometimes (like yesterday) rocks do everything I want them to do and words just won't do anything I want them to. Tomorrow's Dave column is okay. It's true, and it's honest Dave stuff. I like it ... would give it a "B". Other people seem to like my style of writing more than I do (that was funny, too -- if you missed that chortle, go back for it).