So, Shelby Dam. I learned something really important today that will stick with me for some time, I'd guess. If you're going to do some kind of great earth work, like a dam, survey before you spend three weeks digging and moving rocks. If you're smart, and I know you are, you see where this is going. So we have to abandon the Shelby Dam site and start anew, which we did yesterday.
Avi felt horrible for what he said was wasting my time, but he didn't read my last post. He doesn't know how much the work is relieving me. Here is the beginning of Mark Dam at the end of Runge lane. The hole in the berm is where water enters the bustan from the valley running parallel to it. So Mark Dam will run from the rock at the bottom of the image to the wall of the flood gate (There will be a gate there eventually.).
Remember that road where I had to clear all of the rocks and stones. Well just look at it now. Oh yeah, Runge Lane is done. I went back to work on the dam this morning and there were camel tracks on the lane. Pssshht. Make a road in the desert and anybody will use it.
Then I got a ride back to the house. Did I tell you that it is a mile to the bustan from the house? So each day I walk two miles. I really miss running, but the work here is so physically intense that I don't want to risk overexerting myself. I'll take long hikes on the weekend, and that will just have to do. Today is my dayaversary; I've been here for five weeks. Tomorrow is the countdown to leaving. I'll have only three weeks left, exactly.
Okay, while I'm at it, here is the path that I take from the bustan to where I'm making Mark Dam--and was working on Shelby Dam. Yeah, I'm kind of like a goat now. I can traverse anything. And this is the beginning of Mark Dam. I have been working on it for two days, so there is a bit more progress; but that is for tomorrow's blog--which is really today, but don't make me go through the whole time thing again, please.
Here are the ladies of the house. They are planting a new row of corn. The corn is so good that Lulu cuts the kernels off and makes a sandwich out of them. These girls are amazing. They work so hard. Granted, Lulu is only ten, but she does the work of a much older girl. And she has so much responsibility. And Rotem, my goodness, she is thirteen going on seventeen. She works almost as hard as her mother, who works as hard as anyone that I've ever known. It is these ladies that keep the place in fruits, vegetables, cheese, and they do most of the cooking and cleaning. Although, I am happy to say that the boys, too, share in this work. But there is a clear division of labor.
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