Thursday afternoon - on work crew again!

This afternoon we continued spreading sand around the rear of the new dormitory. As you may recall, a dump truck left several large loads of sand on one side of the dormitory, and unfortunately our task was to move that large pile of sand through a narrow passageway, just slightly too small for a wheelbarrow to pass.

Stuart kept a constant stream of wheelbarrow loads moving towards the passageway:



and Melissa shoveled the sand through like mad:



while Tara loaded it into a wheelbarrow on the other side:



and Diane helped spread and level it:



Unfortunately this bottleneck between the dorm and the wall kept us from making swift progress, even after Stuart tried some novel shoveling techniques:



So Jason came up with the idea of boosting our throughput by sending some wheelbarrow loads the long way around the dorm. This is where my story begins.

Meet my newest friend, a wheelbarrow whom I have affectionately named Consuela:



Jamie kindly captured a few photos of our adventures together. After loading up Consuela with a heavy burden of sand, we would set off together, Consuela and I, on our long journey around the dormitory:



around the front of the dorm (here passing Jason on his return trip):



around the far front left corner:



up the challenging hill towards the rear of the dorm:



passing through the narrow corridor behind the dorm, tantalizingly close now to our final destination:



getting ready to dump:

and at last, our burden is lifted!

Then back around to the start again, passing Jason again on the way, for another load (Jamie kindly escorting Consuela back for me after recording the preceding photodocumentary - thanks, Jamie!)

After many more trips around by Jason, Mark B, and myself, and continual work by the crew in the rear, behold the fruits of our labor!

Some of us handled the physical demands of the afternoon with grace and flair:

while others gave the ultimate sacrifice. Stuart, we salute you!

Signing off for today,

- Mark