Today was a work day in the physical sense of the word. Matt came over this morning and spent a couple hours digging out some of the post holes we’d augered last weekend. The auger does well, but it doesn’t get thorugh everything or slides around rocks and each hole needs to be widened to contain the concrete base we add and the original holes don’t always line up in a straight line. We string a line to make that happen.
It’s tough work using a railroad bar and and a hand post hole digger. A friend and volunteer at Heifer Farm once called the big steel bar used for prying, digging rocks, and loosening soil a kumonga bar and I always thought that was the official name and called it that there-after, “Hey,hand me that kumonga bar”, and they’d stand and look at me like I had 4 heads”. It was only recently revealed to me that Kumonga was the name of a giant spider in a series of Godzilla moves and the tool in question was really one of several types of steel bars used in the railroad industry (but none of them are called kumanga bars…).
The bars (I have two of them) are heavy and their weight helps drive the force as the handler rams them into the ground again and again to dislodge rocks, loosen soil, or break through hardpan. So you alternate loosening a couple inches of the soil and then removing the loose soil with a hand digger when things are going well; when they aren’t you use the bar to dig and pry out and remove the rock in the way.
I picked away at the 24 holes we’re digging between the horse pen and the horse arena on and off during the day and determined the posts were ready to be set after I finished chores. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and I wanted to make sure I got the posts in before-hand in case the rain messes up the holes again.
The 24 posts were placed in their holes and each got 80 pounds of concrete when all was ready but it took some more last minute digging and resetting a couple posts and the coyotes had already completed their evening howling before I got them all done with the use of a hand level and a miner’s light. I didn’t find silver but straight, sturdy posts are pure gold and when I was done they were lined up straight and true like the little crosses at Arlington.
So now I have 24 posts like this in and 120 more to go. And the railings; plus the posts and railings for the wire fence. I was marveling at my efforts (all hard labor should be marveled at) in the dark thinking about how I kinda enjoy physical work but was looking forward to getting some rest for my achy shoulders and back when I remembered I had around a half ton of horse feed in my truck that I needed to unload and a workout tomorrow morning at 6:45 with Ann and our personal trainer. As they say, “No rest for the wicked…” Oh well, after the exercise session things should get easier.
First photo: Jake with his head in the feeder probably wishing I’d quit working on the fence and give him some hay.
Second photo: They look like the posts are leaning but you can blame the photographer. Also, that is the reflection of the gator headlights, our ATV, in the background. It isn’t Kumonga’s eyes.
