Early Stone Work

There was a brief period of time today when it was pleasant to be outside.  Clear skies allowed the ever strengthening sunlight to really warm things up.  Ed could not resist the chance to work with his stones.  No frost held these exposed stones to the ground.  The day seemed suited to gathering stones whose shape recommended them for future wall placement.  The chosen stones could have been thrown in a heap or stacked loosely in a temporary storage wall.

This area consists of the poorest land we own.  A short narrow valley with steep sides is formed between the gravel bank hill and the kame that roughly parallels the bedrock ridge.  There are no old plow furrow edges on this land although an adjacent field is still actively farmed.  It must have been cleared for pasture only but Ed can find no logical reason for the placement of the straight line stone pile down the center of the valley.  The stone here is also of poor quality.  Distorted round broken goonies abound.  There is insufficient Irish in his family tree to enable him to build solid walls with such poor stone, but there must be some because Ed just can't toss wall stone in a heap.

The single stack end makes this wall temporary.  Any stone that is placed in a wall so that it can fall will fall.  If these stones are not soon moved to a permanent placement, a fallen end will mark the beginning of a select heap.  The lone roundish stone is headed to the edge of the garden developing down by the road.  Most of our stone is sedimentary in origin but the round one is metamorphic.  It is much denser than our other stones and is filled with small quartz crystals.  Some time exposed to the weather will polish its surface and it will sparkle at the edge of the garden.

The wind shifted, coming from the north and Ed moved inside.  This day was very special since outside work in relative comfort was possible.