family – Page 99 – ~HB ADVENTURE~

I have a new perspective for what my dad’s job entails. I’ve always known that he’s a stone mason and that he builds absolutely beautiful things, but watching this whole process unfold before my very eyes gives me newfound respect and admiration.

The amount of planning and preparation that goes into each job isn’t lost on me. I know that before my dad made the trek down to HBHQ he sat down at his workspace at home and made a list of all the things that he’d need. I’ve seen him do it a million times, sitting by the door with his work clothes still on writing with a dull pencil.

All the tools, equipment, cement, and fair-weather gear arrived and have been getting used by my dad, Izak and Jim. Watching my dad build the wall is fascinating. He doesn’t measure with traditional tools, relying on his own intuition and eyes. Talk about confidence, I like to use a ruler to cut my pie lattice pieces. Jeesh.

When we started talking about putting in these walls, I had no idea that they would be as beautiful as they are. I was clueless. From the chicken-scratch drawing that we showed him to the search for the perfect fitting rocks, my dad’s vision for our yard surpassed anything we could have imagined. My dad’s job is to make things beautiful and he sure does a heart-stirring job.

This is my little brother. He’s not so little anymore. See that bag that he’s carrying? It weighs 60 pounds. It is full of cement mix. 60 pounds is a lot. I know this because I tried to carry a few 60 pound bags.

After I carried 3 bags I decided to go get my camera. It isn’t as heavy. As I was walking to get my camera, I passed my dad. He was carrying three bags of the 60 pound cement mix. He’s a bit stronger than I am.

Izak’s pretty strong too. Even though his nickname is Skron, don’t be fooled. He’s learned the fine art of making perfectly creamy cement.

It involves adding those 60 pound bags of mix into a moving mixer that is older than his 23 years.

It also involves shooting water into the mixer to make sure it isn’t too creamy. The hose weighs much less than the 60 pound bag of cement mix, in case you were wondering.

Today I discovered that the current cement mixer can hold approx. 3.5 bags of mix. No more. No less. Otherwise there’s problems that involve electricity, frowns and a tiresome removal process. We won’t talk about that today. Nope.

I also learned that just because the hose weighs less than the 60 pound bag of mix that does not mean that I should add more water. Izak let me spray the hose and I added too much water. The cement looked very uncreamy.