48 IN THE SHADE
The other day in the local post office (closest to us is 10 miles away) while Sweetheart sifted down book packages for customers, I met up with an old builder friend I haven't talked to in almost 25 years
We built a hefty footbridge together back in those years
He wanted to know how that bridge was faring since it is a mile up river from our place
I told Pete I had to replace the stringers he cut with me from ironwood trees because the contractor we worked for refused to believe, like we both knew, that the bark should be peeled from the logs before setting them in as supports
So the good wood rotted
I told him I had to work right in the river with my aluminum ladder...12 feet deep and the top of the ladder tied to the bridge, steady as you go
I took each old stringer out and put new 4 x 4 pressure treated braces in
Holding up that small part of the bridge momentarily with my shoulder
Today I'd make sure to charge accordingly; back then I bet I thought I was rich with a few hundred dollars in my pocket
Pete liked the story
Later in the day, I got everything done up at a carpentry job across town in the woods, and Sweetheart napped on the lawn in the warm sun
Faraway from anywhere
48 in the shade
Pete also told Bob Arnold he read one of his books and recognized everybody in the book, but one
