mud slinging.

Oh Dear Friend,
I
Am
So
Sore.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to meet the crew of SWAT, AAS, and the MZMNH for some fun in the sun. I got there extra early due to nerves and a fear of being chastised for running on GST (That's Gay Standard Time, and it runs about an hour and ten minutes behind normal time). 

I was the first one there other than the two overseeing the group. A few more people showed up, maybe three, and then we packed up our gear and headed out 'round the back of the ruins. We unloaded our gear and were given the run down; there are two kinds of mud we're using to fight erosion at the site. The first is a gravel/sand mixture which is used to fill holes, the second is a slurry of sand and screened dirt which is used for finishing. The purpose of all of this is to keep the parts of the site that were excavated in the 30's from weathering away. We do not touch anything that is not exposed, we are not looking to restore the sight to it's former glory, we are only preserving what is already exposed.

And with that we got to work. There was a big container, kind of like a pond you would sink into the ground and into it went about 200lbs of sand/gravel/dirt mix and water. That was then mixed by hand with a hoe until it was a nice smooth muddy consistency. It was then shoveled into buckets and taken to the people working on the walls.

Because I got there early I ended up mixing the mud since until the mud is mixed there's really nothing to do. Apparently mud mixing is NOT a desirable job. People began showing up about 45 minutes after the start time, grabbing the mud buckets and running off to the walls. Not that I blame them, mud making is really hard, exhausting, back breaking work. And it never stops. I mixed mud batches for five hours, sweaty and tired, and could not keep up with the demand. We made about 25ish batches, we even ran out of dirt and had to go gather more. It was intense.

At some point one of the leaders offered to relieve me of my mud duties, but the other girl who was working with me was having trouble breathing...allergies or something, so I told her to go. I really didn't mind. I enjoyed my mud duties, I really did, and it gave me a strange sort of perspective into what went into making the sight in the first place. I didn't show up to just do the fun stuff, and I'm not really the kind to pick and choose what is and is not important to learn. As far as I'm concerned, it's far better to know too much than too little.  Besides, I was just grateful to be there.

After all the mud was gone and sun was high in the sky, myself and the other mudders started the clean up. Washing out the 50 or so mud buckets and the pond. What was really amazing was that as people finished up on the wall and came back with their buckets no one offered to wash their own. Instead they just set them next to the three of us that were scrubbing away and sat down. Now, I don't really care, I was having a good enough time with the two people I'd been working with all day, but it was strange. I know people have gotten lazy, or at least lazier over time, but it was really strange to see people who were so lucky to have gotten to work at the site, and who had volunteered for a day of hard labor to actively avoid the hard-work part. It's a sad state of affairs when a grown person can't even clean their own mud bucket.

The downside to the whole thing is that EVERY SINGLE muscle in my body is exacting revenge today. Everything I do is painful. Muscles are hurting that I didn't even know I had! But you know what? I'll be back every month to do it all over again. Even if I get stuck mixing the mud every single time. I can't tell you what I'm gaining from doing it, but I know that whatever it is, it's important. And hey, even if it's not, I'm still having fun.


I miss you Dear Friend. Someday I'll take you with me, I promise. You know, when you live somewhere less green. :) I hope things are well. Lots of love.