Quieter Hilltop

Grandkids and dogs, escorted by kids and wives, have all hugged and waved as they departed the hilltop.  The silence is nearly deafening.

But as usual, it's always wonderful spending time with family.  The turkey was excellent.  String beans, bacon and onions were good.  Mashed potatoes, using real spuds of course, were tasty.  But the most wonderful ingredient was the love generously spread around the table.

An injury to the visiting dog Maru, caused a Thanksgiving evening trip to the Tulare-Kings Veterinary Emergency Service in Visalia resulted in several stitches in two places on the dog's leg.  Plus, Maru has to suffer for 10 days with the indignity of wearing one of those white plastic "bite collars" to force him to let the wound and stitches heal.  In reality it was simply a matter of taking care of the problem, not anything that serious.  Expensive, but simple.

As is often the case when I have large healthy male offspring visiting the ranch, I am able to obtain physical assistance in fixing things.  This weekend was the installation of a gate, mounted on a railroad tie hinge-post, and another tie on the other end to bump up against.  The only way to get deep enough to effectively hold the gate, and subsequently help hold up the barn, was to break off a small corner of the concrete floor in the manger area, then dig down until we hit granite.  That was the easy part.

One of the realities of living in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, is that the whole place is made of granite, else it would be flat.  So the distance to the granite was at most 4 inches on the west end, and probably 2 inches on the east.  The remaining digging was done with a pinch-bar and a shovel.  Something has to chip away the granite, which fortunately, is a lot easier to dig this time of year than in July.

The pinch-bar was used for a while, then it was decided to try the (expensive) post-hole digger.  I've never like the "knuckle-banger" model, one of those with two wooden handles and a scoop on the bottom.  This allows banging the device in the hole, pushing the handles apart so the scoop pinches soil in the hole, then depositing the result on the ground.  When you open the scoop, the handles go together, thus the "knuckle banging" move.

The one I bought some months ago, at the encouragement of a son, ("Oh, spend the extra $15 Dad, and get a really good one.") has a heavy mechanical scoop on the bottom, with stout fiberglass handles.  But the real key is the weight.  This one allows even digging in solid granite to go reasonably well.  So, a good 22 inch hole was created in the core of the foothills, accompanied by much sweat and effort even on a cool afternoon.  The posts were planted, holes bored, hinges installed, and a gate was hung.

Of course, this morning every joint in my hands is complaining bitterly at the work accomplished because of their efforts.  Ahh, getting older sure isn't for sissies!