Just Add Water

Jim started another yard project yesterday. He dug a trench in the yard leading from the house out across the back lawn. It's where the water from the air conditioning unit, the dehumidifier and the sump pump drain out, and previously the water drained through a black plastic corrugated hose next to the house. What he did was to put underground drainage piping in the trench to gradually let out the water along the perforated pipe. Today he bought a load of stone and some cement mix to finish off the job.

Boy do we have stone! Although all he needed was 9 cubic feet, he ended up with at least 20 cubic feet in the bed of his truck, plus two 80-pound sacks of cement. When I came outside, he was shoveling out the stone into the trench. Actually, he was wrestling with one of the cement sacks to get it inside a large plastic bag. It had started to rain. As I was helping him, I noticed the instructions in large letters on the bag - JUST ADD WATER. Hmmmm..... Well, it didn't take long to get the sacks into a dry area by the door, and they were completely covered with plastic, so all is well.

I wanted to help with the unloading of the stone, so I got a pair of work gloves and a shovel of my own and dug in with him. I soon decided I didn't like shoveling from the ground, so I got into the truck bed. I'm not as agile as I once was, but Jim showed me how to step up onto the tires and heave inside - with a little push on the backside from him. Shoveling was much easier from that angle. Then I sat down while he moved the truck to another spot and we filled that area. At that point he said that was enough stone, and I should get out of the truck.

I have this fused ankle that doesn't bend easily, and so I'm pretty awkward sometimes. Jim offered to help me down. "Just put your arms around my neck and launch yourself." Well, after a little hesitation, I did. You can imagine what's coming, can't you? One... two... three... OH NO! Jim's bad knee gave out and the two of us ended up in a tangled heap of arms and legs tumbling on the ground.

No permanent damage. I did manage to land on Jim's bad knee that he had operated on last May, and it's been sore all day. My wrist was a little sore, but not bad, and I think it's fine now. Hopefully, he didn't tear up his knee again. Luckily, his one year appointment with his surgeon to check on how that went is coming up soon. It was supposed to take up to a year to completely heal, and it's still a month before the year is up.

PHOTO: The Project. Jim is getting help from Ball, leaping over the trench and Pong is checking things out on the left. One of the bags of cement is nearly hidden under all the rock, and the other one isn't even visible.