Everybody Must Get Stoned

I finished off a longstanding project last weekend. The row of stones on the edge of my driveway had become unseated, pushed and tumbled over by the action of a nearby former tree, plus my wife and/or daughter driving over them. So I had to dig out on dirt to get at the stones, pull them out, level them up, seat them in new concrete, then re-fell and grade the topsoil and put down new grass seed.

I had actually planned on doing this last year, but was limited by injury, so the task was hanging out there for a long time. At the beginning of the summer I bought supplies and got ready, but then it turned 95 degrees for a solid three months. Finally in September it was cool enough to work outside. It ended up taking three sessions. The first one was to dig out, after which I had to stop cuz it started to rain. Then second I mixed the concrete and set the stones, and third I put back the dirt and put down new grass seed. All in all it took longer than expected cuz along the way I pulled alot of weeds out of the topsoil, and I ended up re-grading the yard so I had some leftover dirt to fill in some low spots.

Since I’ve finished we’ve had moderate temperatures and alot of rain the last few days, so I’d expect the new grass will come in nicely.

While I’m here I’ll mention we went for another great hike last weekend, this time around the Palisades in new Jersey just on the the other side of the George Washington Bridge. I had been there once before when I lived in Brooklyn. My friend Mark and I biked all the way from Park Slope. It was a long and epic ride, especially pulling back up the escarpment. This was only a few weeks before 9/11 and I got the last picture I ever took of the World Trade Center from the bridge.

This trip Jeannie and I parked at the top of the Palisades and hiked down, then walked along the shore for a while. There were some parks there that I don’t remember from before. Then it was up again further north and back to the beginning along the summit. Very nice.

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