For those hoping for video, click the play button for a 3:30 minute peek at the goings-on at Little Mesa. to date (day 3 of work).
Gilberto, the crew chief, is from a small town in Mexico. He has a gentle and loving continence. I feel that when I look into his eyes I can see straight into his heart. He told me that he is 58 years old, ten years younger than me. We both have early August birthdays. Gilberto’s dad was a Sargeant in the military. He also ran a store in his town. He describes his father as loving, but strict. He did not disobey his father. Picture the kind of a father who has eyes everywhere! He told me a story that made me think of the TV program, That 70’s Show. If you’ve seen it, you will remember that whenever Eric, (Anytown, USA clueless teen) had a moment to relax, his grouchy father, Red, would tell him to go sweep the garage floor. I don’t think that is really even a thing. Well, anytime Gilberto seemed to have nothing to do, his father gave him the equivalent of sweeping the garage floor which, was to line up stones along walkways!
Gilberto seems like a pretty cerebral sort of guy. He likes to do calculations in pencil on short stubs of 2”x4”s. He speaks very kindly to his crew of three younger men. Gilberto’s crew speaks Spanish. A short, thin guy, who smiles allot, frequently breaks out singing. A stocky guy, who wears a wedding ring, is more reserved and quiet but he laughs at the jokes made by the skinny guy. I am still trying to figure out the fourth guy. One thing about Gilberto’s crew: they all smell nice. Cologne is in with young Mexican Men!
I was impressed that these four men, each on the shorter side, were able to carry and lift 6”x10” beams that are 18’ in length from the ground to the top of our 9’ walls. Gilberto very strategically guided the crew each step along the way, using sawhorses, ladders and scaffolding until all four of these beautiful pieces of lumber were carefully put in place.
I took video of the four guys using 2x4s to carry the 18” beams. It immediately brought images of carrying the Sun-Moon Dance tree from the grove where we cut it out to the dance arbor. Part of me wanted to ask them to ceremoniously pick up and put down the beam four times before lifting into its place. But, they didn’t even have their whistles, so I restrained myself. (Sorry, that is a Sun-Moon Dance joke.)
Honestly, I feel like work is going a little more slowly than I hoped. But, I am committed to not going all “New York” on anyone.
Actually, because this was a day where I was trying to not get in the way, I went down to the platform to rest. I took in the beauty and offered some prayers to the ancestors. Then I laid down on the hard and splintered wood. I fell asleep after a while and an interesting thing happened. Not that I have really thought much about this, but I believe that, on some etheric level, holy people from this and other dimensions, are praying and doing ceremonies at all times. In my reverie, I found myself in a ceremony that was being led by a temple priest somewhere in the “east”. It was a beautiful ceremony – chanting and candles – and I felt completely at home. At one point, though, my consciousness shifted and I became aware of my body in some way, and even though I was still “asleep” I realized that I had on boots. Somehow, my mind which was kind of bi-located in the dream experience and in my physical body, came to the conclusion that I was not supposed to have boots on in this temple. I tried to quietly leave the temple, and as I got out the door, I woke up the rest of the way. Maybe we can be in two places at once!
I fell back to sleep and had a second dream of being the door keeper for a sweat lodge with my old Sun-Moon Dance brothers.
This land is a magical place. Perhaps one where the door between dimensions is cracked a little open.
I’m really hoping that tomorrow will involve lifting a ridgepole into place and that rafters will follow on Friday. We’ll see.
Gilberto, the crew chief, is from a small town in Mexico. He has a gentle and loving continence. I feel that when I look into his eyes I can see straight into his heart. He told me that he is 58 years old, ten years younger than me. We both have early August birthdays. Gilberto’s dad was a Sargeant in the military. He also ran a store in his town. He describes his father as loving, but strict. He did not disobey his father. Picture the kind of a father who has eyes everywhere! He told me a story that made me think of the TV program, That 70’s Show. If you’ve seen it, you will remember that whenever Eric, (Anytown, USA clueless teen) had a moment to relax, his grouchy father, Red, would tell him to go sweep the garage floor. I don’t think that is really even a thing. Well, anytime Gilberto seemed to have nothing to do, his father gave him the equivalent of sweeping the garage floor which, was to line up stones along walkways!
Gilberto seems like a pretty cerebral sort of guy. He likes to do calculations in pencil on short stubs of 2”x4”s. He speaks very kindly to his crew of three younger men. Gilberto’s crew speaks Spanish. A short, thin guy, who smiles allot, frequently breaks out singing. A stocky guy, who wears a wedding ring, is more reserved and quiet but he laughs at the jokes made by the skinny guy. I am still trying to figure out the fourth guy. One thing about Gilberto’s crew: they all smell nice. Cologne is in with young Mexican Men!
I was impressed that these four men, each on the shorter side, were able to carry and lift 6”x10” beams that are 18’ in length from the ground to the top of our 9’ walls. Gilberto very strategically guided the crew each step along the way, using sawhorses, ladders and scaffolding until all four of these beautiful pieces of lumber were carefully put in place.
I took video of the four guys using 2x4s to carry the 18” beams. It immediately brought images of carrying the Sun-Moon Dance tree from the grove where we cut it out to the dance arbor. Part of me wanted to ask them to ceremoniously pick up and put down the beam four times before lifting into its place. But, they didn’t even have their whistles, so I restrained myself. (Sorry, that is a Sun-Moon Dance joke.)
Honestly, I feel like work is going a little more slowly than I hoped. But, I am committed to not going all “New York” on anyone.
Actually, because this was a day where I was trying to not get in the way, I went down to the platform to rest. I took in the beauty and offered some prayers to the ancestors. Then I laid down on the hard and splintered wood. I fell asleep after a while and an interesting thing happened. Not that I have really thought much about this, but I believe that, on some etheric level, holy people from this and other dimensions, are praying and doing ceremonies at all times. In my reverie, I found myself in a ceremony that was being led by a temple priest somewhere in the “east”. It was a beautiful ceremony – chanting and candles – and I felt completely at home. At one point, though, my consciousness shifted and I became aware of my body in some way, and even though I was still “asleep” I realized that I had on boots. Somehow, my mind which was kind of bi-located in the dream experience and in my physical body, came to the conclusion that I was not supposed to have boots on in this temple. I tried to quietly leave the temple, and as I got out the door, I woke up the rest of the way. Maybe we can be in two places at once!
I fell back to sleep and had a second dream of being the door keeper for a sweat lodge with my old Sun-Moon Dance brothers.
This land is a magical place. Perhaps one where the door between dimensions is cracked a little open.
I’m really hoping that tomorrow will involve lifting a ridgepole into place and that rafters will follow on Friday. We’ll see.
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