Chronicles of Concrete, Chapter Three

Not all of our concrete construction involved foundations;the first floor of Badboulder's main house has masonry walls which means we continued making concrete long after finishing the foundation. In order to build on and around boulders, David constructed forms for stem walls that incorporated the mammoth stones, then used the level surface to continue building with masonry blocks that we filled with rebar and--you guessed it-- concrete. When we reached a height for the tops of doorways and windows, I learned a bit about pouring concrete lintels. The form absolutely had to be accomplished in one pouring and could not be exposed to rain. My job consisted of scooping gallons of concrete and handing them up to David, who has no fear of heights, and didn't mind jostling the concrete to settle it into the form as he swayed on a ladder.

Monsoon storms can be all sound and fury with no precipitation, torrential downpours, gentle rains, and once we even saw rain on the north side of our rental house but not the south. No one but a Yarnellian would believe that could happen but we've seen it all up here. A mountain town is a fantastic setting for storm watchers.

The summer that we poured the walls and lintels was a summer of spectacular storms. We hauled out of bed early in order to get our pourings finished and well covered before those marshmallow clouds started to blow in over the Weaver mountains usually between eleven and one o'clock. We successfully finished ten lintels that summer before tackling the most difficult, one that spanned the two eighteen feet tall boulders. "Super Lintel Day" arrived with a perfect blue sky; the temperature was mild enough that our ancient Ouchita Airedale/Irish wolfhound mix, Kelsey, climbed the hill to watch the action. There are no breaks when making DIY concrete until the job is done, so as usual we set a brisk pace. Not brisk enough for the heavy gray clouds that came roaring in over the Weavers at least two hours earlier than we had experienced before. The lintel was almost done and the sky was dark as dusk until lightning flashes began illuminating our project. Within minutes rain began to fall over the Weavers and as always moved our way. David had time to get those wonderful blue tarps ready. He will have to tell you just how he managed to cover the lintel because Kelsey Dog, who was disturbed by any bit of thunder, and I shivered and shook in the tool shed. Lightning struck a nearby tree and continued to bounce all over Badboulder's hill. David continued to protect the lintel.

It became an unusual feature of our first floor because it frames our territorial window made of wine bottles and mortar. And , that's another concrete story.

FROM THE KNOTHOLE: Hey, remember me, I'm the guy who defies rain and lightning to pour concrete. Ain't she great? She always makes you feel like a damn hero.

a parting shot from bbman: don't buy airline stock.