Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Digging Archeology



Every now and then, I tune into NatGeo or Discovery when it looks like people are digging for artifacts. It has been a never-ending source of intrigue to me how patient they are, what with using small brushes and the teeniest tools to scrape away the detritus to discover another priceless treasure. I never imagined that I could have the patience for such work. Give me a backhoe and stand back! Thus, it was something of a concern when I began my own "dig" yesterday.
Traditionally, it's about this time of year when I get a bit bored and look for something to do, usually entertaining the neighborhood by piling snow up in the yard prior to sculpting something for all of us to enjoy--at least until Frosty melts or the neighborhood delinquents cause irreparable harm. Yesterday, I decided I was at the point of boredom necessary in order to begin.
An hour or so into the piling project, I noticed that a small tree was going to be in the way of my immense pile of snow. I was alerted to this fact by the small branch poking through the deep snow, struggling in vain for some sunlight. Knowing that the backhoe approach would not be appropriate, I rummaged about in my sweetie's gardening tools for an appropriate implement. I came up with a device that had a little shove on one end and a three-pronged digger contraption on the other. Figuring to be well-equipped for the task, I set about freeing the little tree from its ice-bound hibernation...but mostly as a reminder to me not to step on it as I worked through the snow pile and the artistry required to sculpt whatever it was that I would end up making.
Archeology is not easy! Branches were buried under icy globs which stretched under the pile of snow I'd begun to build, and it was tedious to say the least. At one point, I gave up on the digging tool and shed my gloves to carefully move ice crystals away from the branches. There were a LOT more branches than I though a little tree should have, but I managed to extricate almost all of them with few casualties.
Fingers frozen and pants soaked from kneeling on the snow, I managed to complete the task in a half hour or so, and it left me in no mood to continue piling snow...and wondering how I would react when my new "discovery" got covered again during the next snowfall. At this point, I think I can handle it with a small paint brush, but if it comes to one of those little artist brushes, I'm going for the backhoe.

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