Porchified

New word, boys and girls. Porchification: The act of experiencing malaise brought on by the handling of hundreds of bricks and playing in mortar, occasionally in a crouched position.

I hustled home from work and got in nearly three hours of work last night. I feel like the bus I rode home on last night splattered me in the street, but I got down to just two rows, including the row of half-bricks! It will take a while to cut those babies, but that's a different day's efforts.

It was hot, but not miserable, and the porch was in the shade completely by the time I got out there. The wind picked up occasionally but was calm for the most part. I even managed to start misting while there was some light left. Makes it much easier when you can see what you’re doing. There wasn't much of a moon but there were tons of lightning bugs. I played with them for a bit. They're so cool.

It was strange to go out this morning and see the one portion almost completely covered. (I’ll try for pictures tomorrow. I’d like to get everything but the half-brick row down first. Otherwise, it might not look that different to you.)

The cutting will slow things, as will digging out the front edge. But with any luck, I can get that done by tomorrow night. That would get me ready to do the smaller part of the porch – and then onward to busting up the sidewalk and building a walkway.

It also means I have to figure out whether to cover the bases of the columns. I think it might look weird to have them exposed, but Carole doesn’t want them covered. (Reminding her that I am a writer, not an engineer, or even a union bricklayer. Those folks would know what to do.)

As Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” once said: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Holds true for a woman, too. And this one knows hers. But I've got at least a day or two before I get there. So, while I'm quoting movie lines, I'll steal one from Scarlett O'Hara: "I'll think about that tomorrow."