chimalhuacan: day three

today dawned cloudy. it was even a bit cool. the work was pretty hard from the git-go. had to bust up concrete, then dig down about 2 feet - through the underlying, original floor, laid down when Romualda and her husband first built on the lot, 10 years ago (or something like that). i was able to do SOME of it, but not a whole lot. between the 5 guys, norberto, and isidra insisting that i not work too hard, i'm pretty much relegated to do support work. i WAS able to paint the forms (small wooden palletts used to hold the cement in place while it hardens) with used motor oil, so the cement won't stick to them. which felt good. we have ... 50 or so, maybe a few more, and i was using a broom without the handle for the most part. then don walked over and commented that he really wished he had the handle to it, it would be a lot easier to do. well, i had watched norberto remove the handle, and took the broom head from him and started to do the painting bent over, figuring he knew what he was doing. and it WORKED, to be sure, it was just harder on my back than it might have been otherwise. don and i got into this groover thing where he would swab them down and i would haul them around and stack them inside the neighboring lot's wall. after a couple ... well, more like 4 or 5 times, of carrying the forms over my head and having used motor oil drip onto me, i decided to carry them at my side. :-)

supper last night was stuffed chicken breasts and cole slaw, tortillas and salsa ... but SERIOUS salsa ...at least to me and don ... it hardly merrited comment from the guys and the manzano family.

grace & peace