This Old House
Aug. 5th, 2023 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calzephyrWe were blessed with a new city sidewalk on the side of our house. Being on a corner has its pros and cons and it was delightful to get a new sidewalk. Our neighbourhood will be 30 years old in 2028 and a lot of things around here are showing their age. The neighbours are great about keeping up their yards and houses, but there are literal cracks here and there.
If you don't live in a cold place, you may not be familiar with frost heaves, where moisture, ice, and soil shift to create holes and cracks. I don't know who ordered us a new sidewalk, but I'm glad as a long-time crack was getting so pronounced weeds were growing and I couldn't scrape them off with a shovel.
It's funny how the new sidewalk came in phases over a few months. First someone came and sprayed white markings on the sidewalk, followed a month later by blue markings. Then, orange and red flags popped up on the lawn. 311, our local services number, couldn't tell me what was going on.
A Bobcat with a jackhammer appeared and pounded away for ten minutes. The mystery of the new sidewalk remained until an excavator and dump truck arrived a few days later and tore up the sidewalk. Barriers were erected. A truck dropped off concrete forms another day. Eventually a crew arrived to set them up.
Finally, cement was poured, but that isn't the end of the story.
An asphalt truck laid down a smooth surface on the road and soon after sod was laid down to replace what was dug out.
And the story of the new sidewalk is still not done--we have to babysit the sod, soaking it twice daily.
Sure, it's just a new sidewalk, but I think the universe is reminding me small acts add up to a big reward--and to trust the process, one step at a time :-)
If you don't live in a cold place, you may not be familiar with frost heaves, where moisture, ice, and soil shift to create holes and cracks. I don't know who ordered us a new sidewalk, but I'm glad as a long-time crack was getting so pronounced weeds were growing and I couldn't scrape them off with a shovel.
It's funny how the new sidewalk came in phases over a few months. First someone came and sprayed white markings on the sidewalk, followed a month later by blue markings. Then, orange and red flags popped up on the lawn. 311, our local services number, couldn't tell me what was going on.
A Bobcat with a jackhammer appeared and pounded away for ten minutes. The mystery of the new sidewalk remained until an excavator and dump truck arrived a few days later and tore up the sidewalk. Barriers were erected. A truck dropped off concrete forms another day. Eventually a crew arrived to set them up.
Finally, cement was poured, but that isn't the end of the story.
An asphalt truck laid down a smooth surface on the road and soon after sod was laid down to replace what was dug out.
And the story of the new sidewalk is still not done--we have to babysit the sod, soaking it twice daily.
Sure, it's just a new sidewalk, but I think the universe is reminding me small acts add up to a big reward--and to trust the process, one step at a time :-)
