This morning the diesel air compressor refill guy came to the site. After we peeled back the fence I asked, ‘do you think you can drive over the hoses and wires where the blocks of wood are protecting them?’ He said ‘yeah, of course!’ and then he promptly drove right over the hoses and burst the water line. It was kind of funny because the reaction was so sudden! Two steady sprays reaching half way up the fuel truck.  I shut down the line and we replaced the connector and clamps, then it was fine. 

We went to the city market today and had a lovely lunch at Slocum and Ferris’. I am one of two interns who is gluten intolerant, so Megan and I got our lunch on rice instead of bread (the Villa Maddonna has been great about accommodating this). When we were walking through King’s Square Agnessa pointed out the stars at the top of the Young monument, one features the words: truth, virtue, temperance. She asked what temperance meant and I explained that it meant a consistent personal state, like not passionate in either direction. This was a significant moment for me, since I am distinctly not temperate. To sculpt in stone, it appears that one must hone the violence of the soul and release it in measured, determined blows, cuts, and polishings.

 Jo would disagree. He says that he is quite gentle with his stones. This comment stems from me saying I am so used to working with clay, seeing them smashing the stone with steel mallets and slicing it with circular blades seems, well..aggressive. He said, ‘you are used to being able to add and move things, while we only take things away’.

It’s loud on site as well, and I am used to working in almost complete silence.  I am bothered by the sound of electricity passing through a light bulb, or a speaker left on. I wear protective ear coverings all the time, even though I spend most of it in and around the shed, taking stock of what we have -which is lots of things- and making lists of what we need, which is a lot of things. It’s hard to keep track of it all, and I am the list person. Jim let me polish a bit on Wednesday, which was a big relief. I am most relaxed when my hands are doing something; also you must use water for the polishing disks, so it’s misty and cooling (sometimes I see a rainbow). We were all thinking about Alice.

A photograph of Radoslav’s stone is attached to this and you can see that lots has changed since that 22mm hole passed through the side. He’s quite happy that the flanges have arrived. 

Jhon took my glasses today and squinted wearing them asking: ‘is this plus or minus? I see no difference’. I looked up  the Georgian translation for astigmatism. It’s: astigmatism. 

Asano’s stone will be ready to turn over on Monday. The cranes come on Mondays and Wednesdays. 

I thought of a sappyish lineImageImage: I wish I had a sandpaper heart, so that I could smooth things over and be really tough.