You ask particularly after my health. I suppose that I have not many months to live; but, of course, I know nothing about it. I may add that I am enjoying existence as much as ever, and regret nothing.
Thoreau - letter, to Myron Benton (31 March 1862)
This morning's walk to the summit was just after the moon had set. Warmer in the valley below, as I neared the top, it got noticeably colder. Even the small puddles of water such as you see in the picture below on the road were frozen - black ice awaits the unsuspecting! It wouldn't last long as the sun's rays quickly melted it, but still the wind put an icy chill in the air. No workers on the summit this morning.
When I reached the Up Summit Road, I ran into an old friend - actually we don't even know each other's name - who frequents the mountain almost as much as I. But this time something was different; his Golden Retriever was not with him. Never seen without him, I asked as we chatted and exchanged greetings this morning. He had to put his friend down due to complications with his back legs and bladder. That aside, we had a nice short visit. Surely we will meet again, old friends on an old mountain.
I actually didn't see a whole lot of change in the construction site as you can also note by the work of the stone mason from week to week. The cab is pretty much the same. No ladder and no handrails. I have to believe this is the constraint facing the project at this time.
As I write this entry, I sent an email to Mick, the stone mason, and he confirmed that two things now face the project and neither of them are good. First, the hand railings are "weeks away." And secondly, the temperatures are dropping as the winter season begins. He feels that he will have to wait until Spring to complete his work. And he can't finish without the hand railings in place. That could be into January or February. Nope! Not going to happen. I may have seen the last bit of progress for the year, at this point.
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| Icy Approach to the Summit |
Those are icy spots on the road ... best keep off to the shoulder.
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| Twin Towers |
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| NE Corner |
The holes for the hand railings are obvious. No railings .... no stone work!
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| Old Glory in the Summit Chill |
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| Sun Rise in the East |
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| NW Corner |
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| NE Corner This Morning |
Now, take a look below at last week's picture - the same! Even the wooden plank and the plywood with the rocks are the same. Nothing has moved - for what now is obvious.
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| NW Corner Last Week 12/3/11 |
And, not much difference from the previous week as well! Well, I can say it is not as cold as it was then! On the picture below you can see the snow and ice from a brief storm that weekend.
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| NW Corner Thanksgiving Week 11/25/11 |
And we see the same thing on the western wall. A different angle but one can see that the stone mason has made little or no progress. The rocks that are in place are exactly where he left off a week ago! I am sure he is waiting for the hand rails.
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| Western Wall This Morning |
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| Western Wall Last Week 12/3/11 |
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No progress at all.
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| No Change Here |
This scene probably won't change until one day, the old tower will simply disappear!
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| Still Viewing Daylight |
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| Finish Facade Detail |
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| SE Corner |
Since the hand railings only impact ramp areas, the southern wall (left) is pretty much complete.
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| Stone Mason Tools in Bucket |
This bucket of tools is just about all I could find as evidence of the stone mason!
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| High Pressure Teak Planks in the Yard |
These appeared over the past week. I wonder where they are going ... up in the cab? It almost looks like they ran short and this is an additional shipment of planks. The main load has been gone for several weeks now.
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| The Ever-present Water Tank |
Some things never changed since May.
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| More Steel?? |
Wonder where this is going. I didn't see this last week.
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| Where Does This Go?? |
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Nor did I see this one either! I hope nothings missing in there; these look like important pieces to this jigsaw puzzle!
Well, it's time to call it quits and go home. Besides, my hands are freezing. I have to get down lower on the mountain so my hands can warm up.
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| View towards Worcester |
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