The forecast for yesterday had called for the temperature to be in the mid-nineties and the heat index to be around a-hundred-and-ten. Instead, with a mix of light to dark clouds passing overhead and a very brief shower, we had a very pleasant day. Temperatures nearly twenty degrees lower brought a very welcome change, particular to the masonry crew that has been working on the new porch/entry on the south side of the administration building.

For over a week, they had been working in the heat, spending most of the day in a very direct sun and with no shade until late afternoon. Since they leave at four, that means very little shade. Only the hod carrier, who kept his mortar mixer parked under a tree on the east side of the building, had much relief at all.

When you spend your day setting up scaffolding, keeping the layers supplied with stone and brick, dumping eighty-pound bags of mortar into a mixer and then hauling the mix over to the scaffolding, a bit of time in the shade seems like a reasonable perk. At the lunch breaks, he is joined by the other two men, readily sharing the shelter of the tree that must seem like an oasis in the heat of this summer.

There are those who seem to spend much of their lives in the heat with very little relief. Others may work in the shadows from time to time, perhaps getting more shade because of the nature of their labor. I did notice that neither of the other two men seemed eager to swap jobs with the mortar man.

While we might daydream of trading places with someone else, I doubt that any of us have it easy in this world. I do believe that we will all be rewarded for our labors. Whether that is a threat or a promise pretty much depends on what kind of laboring we are doing.

H. Arnett
8/5/10