This weekend’s activities included the removal of 2720 lbs of rubble from the last phase of demolition. How do we know the weight, you might ask… Well, when I took it to the dump, I got sent to the “real” dump, i.e. the actual landfill, complete with bulldozers, buzzards, and quite the smell, rather than the “citizen drop-off site” Iris and I were at previously. So, the truck got weighed coming in and going out. 1.36 tons. 2720 lbs of plaster, laths, drywall, and assorted debris.

I wanted to write something about the meditative benefits of carrying bucketsful of plaster down the stairs and out to the truck, and then dumping it out at the landfill, shovelful by shovelful. But no. It wasn’t really very meditative, although in the repetitive Sisyphean nature of it, it was sort of mind-numbing. Mostly it was just really really f’in hard. And I slept really really well. And when I have nice toasty warm feet this winter, and beautiful brick walls to look at, I will know their true value. And now I know that I am capable of shoveling a ton of dirt. I’d say you never know when that ability might come in handy, but I do know. Next weekend we demolish the first floor ceiling and walls.