So I started digging and pulling out chunks of concrete. And more chunks. And then I started thinking about a conversation I had with friends this weekend about wheelbarrows and how they sometimes called them wheelbarrels even though wheelburrow might make more sense (except that it doesn't, BILL) and somehow burial cairns came up. You know, shallow graves covered in stones so animals wouldn't dig up the body.
The whole point of this rambling side story is that I started to worry that I was dissembling a cairn. Did I mention that I had just returned from talking to the neighbor about the fence and he told me they found a HEADSTONE in their backyard? The previous owner had lost her husband and they had to bring out someone to make sure she hadn't buried him back there (she hadn't).
He calmly told me, "That might have been a dealbreaker." MIGHT have been?
So yeah, nerve-wracking. And the hole kept getting bigger.
The whole point of this rambling side story is that I started to worry that I was dissembling a cairn. Did I mention that I had just returned from talking to the neighbor about the fence and he told me they found a HEADSTONE in their backyard? The previous owner had lost her husband and they had to bring out someone to make sure she hadn't buried him back there (she hadn't).
He calmly told me, "That might have been a dealbreaker." MIGHT have been?
So yeah, nerve-wracking. And the hole kept getting bigger.
But there was no body that I could see. Thank you, backyard gods.
Now I just have to fill this humongous hole somehow. Anybody have a body they need to dispose of?
I love archeology! Thanks for being Illinois Dusty (Indiana Jones's arch-rival) and posting something for us archeology nerds (even though I was hoping you'd unearth zombies. Thanks Geraldo).
ReplyDeleteIn the interest of accuracy, however, I would like to note that rather than "wheelBURROW" (which, I agree, makes no sense at all; thus I wouldn't dream of touting it), I was suggesting its heterograph, "wheelBURRO"(or wheeldonkey), which makes eminent sense. Since donkeys are pack animals.
yours eminently,
Bill Millions
Ohhhhhhhhh! Yes, that does make sense. I stand corrected.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a largish hole in the front yard; I'll keep my fingers crossed that it produces zombies!
yes
ReplyDeleteI hope it's not mine, T!
ReplyDeletei did a random side-job with my friend when i was 17. we were spreading something like 10 yards of bark dust... we had a discussion about the etymology of 'wheelbarrow'. i thought it was 'wheelburro', and earned the nickname 'wheeldonkey'... i only found this blog because i googled 'wheeldonkey'.
ReplyDeleteYou know what? I've had that exact same conversation but it started because someone thought it was "wheel barrel." :)
ReplyDeleteFor some reason my husband and I started calling it a "wheelbarry" and now we just call it "barry."
ReplyDelete