Manual Labor

I have spent the last 5 days working on building a privacy fence with my neighbor. Granted, it hasn't been 24/7, but you try augering twenty 3ft deep holes through Kansas clay and limestone and an hour will feel like a day. I shall be posting some pictures of said fence soon. It's not quite completed (the yard is, afterall, 160ft long), but it's getting there. Naturally, I like to pick the hottest, most humid weather in which to exert the maximum amt of physical effort possible. Good times!

To be honest though, the thing I like most about the whole hammer and a nail business is that it keeps the mind pleasantly occupied on the project itself. No day dreaming or mental gymnastics to engage in, just good old fashioned manual labor. There were times in grad school when I seriously considered quitting and simply working on a farm somewhere in Nebraska. Hell, there are times now when I consider same. Always working in your head disconnects you with the here and now, with the natural world. Digging in the dirt now and then is a Good Thing (tm M Diddy.