{"id":4712,"date":"2021-08-04T10:28:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T17:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/?p=4712"},"modified":"2021-08-04T10:28:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T17:28:03","slug":"digging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/archives\/4712","title":{"rendered":"Digging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Last Thursday, April 12, on Ziggurat Farm, two miles inland from the remote northern California coastal town of Mercy, the homeschoolers Vivienne, Alma, Henri, Larry, Arturo, and Irenia, ages eleven to fourteen, and their science teachers Michael and Caroline, discovered what was once a small pond at the northeast corner of the five-acre farm, the former pond entirely filled with dirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their discovery prompted the adults\nof the collective\u2014Andrea, Lisa, Marcel, and Philip\u2014to hire Gabriel Fernandez, a\nlocal backhoe magician, and Rodrigo Fernandez, Gabriel\u2019s uncle and accomplice, to\nexcavate the basin of stone that once held a spring-fed pool fifty-feet-long\nand thirty-feet-wide and of varying depths\u2014the collective hopeful of soon\nhaving a pond to enjoy and a revived creek resulting from the pond overflow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel and Rodrigo\u2019s first day of\nwork was Saturday, two days after the initial discovery, and the dynamic duo\nmade swift progress in removing the top few feet of soil in the basin. Gabriel deftly\nwielded the backhoe on his large tractor to scoop out the soil while Rodrigo used\nthe front loader on his somewhat smaller tractor to carry the soil away to a\ndumping spot a hundred feet north of the pond site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having confirmed old-timers Nathan\nand Celia\u2019s memories of the north end of the basin being shallow and the south\nend deep, Gabriel and Rodrigo resumed their work on Monday morning at seven and\nthe deepening quickened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the day on Tuesday, Gabriel and Rodrigo have done all they can to empty the granite basin of soil and logs and boulders, and as dusk descends they drive their tractors down the hill to the barn where their trucks and flatbed trailers await them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the tractors are secure on the\ntrailers, Philip and Lisa and Marcel and Andrea gather with Gabriel and Rodrigo\nat Gabriel\u2019s truck. Lisa invites Gabriel and Rodrigo to stay for supper, they\npolitely decline, and Gabriel nods gratefully when Andrea hands him a check for\nthe agreed-upon fee plus a bonus of five hundred dollars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI left a mound of soil in the deep\nend of the pond,\u201d says Gabriel, having very much enjoyed this job. \u201cThe mound\nis wet and we think that\u2019s because the mouth of the spring is under there. I\nsuggest you leave the mound until you\u2019ve gotten as much other dirt out of the\nhole as you want, though it wouldn\u2019t be a bad thing for the pond to have a foot\nor two of soil on the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodrigo says something to Gabriel in\nSpanish and Gabriel translates. \u201cWhen the pond is full, please let us know so\nwe can come see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second half of April is the busiest time of the year for the Ziggurat Farm garden, the bountiful acre and a quarter providing a cornucopia of vegetables and flowers for markets and restaurants throughout the greater Mercy watershed. With several days of much needed rain expected next week, all the farm adults and kids are working long hours in the garden and don\u2019t have much time for removing the remaining dirt in the stone basin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Michael, who lives with his\nwife Daisy and their baby girl Jenna on land adjoining the farm, has time to\ndig, as does Irenia\u2019s father Boris who is taking a two-week vacation from his\njob as a mechanic at Mercy Garage. And so on Wednesday morning, Michael and\nBoris arrive at the farmhouse bright and early for coffee and instructions, the\nexcavating from now on to be accomplished with picks and shovels and\nwheelbarrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main thing to remember,\u201d says\nMarcel, accompanying Boris and Michael to the pond site, \u201cis to leave the mound\nof soil in the deep end for last. We think the mouth of the spring is under there\nand we don\u2019t want to release the water until we\u2019ve gotten as much dirt out as\npossible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlenty of dirt to move before we\nget to the deep end,\u201d says Michael, forty-three, an ornithologist recently\nfreed from academia by his wife inheriting a fortune. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow wonderful to have a pond,\u201d says\nBoris, fifty-eight, an auto mechanic from Russia. \u201cWhen I was a boy in summer we\nwould go to my grandmother\u2019s farm and swim and fish in her pond. Was heaven\nafter long cold months in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhich city?\u201d asks Michael, who has\nspent little time with Boris until today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaint Petersburg,\u201d says Boris,\nnodding. \u201cBeautiful city, but our life is better here. Now we are never cold.\nIn Russia the winters are very cold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they arrive at the pond site,\nMichael exclaims, \u201cMy God, I never imagined it would be so big.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At which moment, the clouds\nobscuring the sun move away and the basin is flooded with sunlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish I could work with you today,\u201d\nsays Marcel, longing to get down in the hole, \u201cbut we have many beds to prepare\nand thousands of seedlings to plant before the rain comes. We look forward to\nyour report at lunch. Bon chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHappy planting,\u201d says Boris, waving\ngoodbye to Marcel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael and Boris leave their water\nbottles and snacks on the west side of the hole and wheel their wheelbarrows\ninto the north end where they set the barrows down to discuss where to begin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmazing,\u201d says Michael, looking\nacross the basin to the deep end. \u201cTo think it was only a week ago when Caroline\nand I brought the kids here to theorize about why this patch of ground was so\nlevel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIrenia loves your field trips,\u201d\nsays Boris, putting on his work gloves. \u201cShe learns so much from you. Whenever\nshe goes on these trips she comes home so excited and tells us everything. She\nwas very smart before she came to farm school and now she is ten times\nsmarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSmart kids come from smart\nparents,\u201d says Michael, smiling at Boris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d says Boris, pointing\nat Michael. \u201cHer mother is smart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since much of the floor of the basin\nis covered with soil compacted by the tires of the tractors, they decide to start\nright where they are. Boris, big and formidably strong, wields pick and shovel\nas if they weigh very little to him, which is true. Michael has much less upper\nbody strength than Boris and only manages to fill his wheelbarrow halfway by\nthe time Boris\u2019s wheelbarrow is piled high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boris contributes a few big\nshovelfuls of dirt to Michael\u2019s wheelbarrow and both wheelbarrows are ready to\nbe wheeled to the dumping site. Boris lifts the handles of his wheelbarrow with\nease, while Michael strains mightily to lift his, and they push their loads out\nof the pond and across the hillside to the dumping site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tipping out their loads on the edge\nof the enormous pile of soil created by Gabriel and Rodrigo, Michael says, \u201cI\nthink let\u2019s not fill mine quite so full next time. I almost didn\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou will get stronger,\u201d says Boris,\nas they wheel their wheelbarrows back to the hole. \u201cThese are big wheelbarrows.\nFor now we only fill yours halfway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow did you get so strong?\u201d asks\nMichael, awed by Boris\u2019s ease with pick and shovel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was laborer in Russia,\u201d says\nBoris, recalling his former life. \u201cI started working when I was fifteen. On\nconstruction sites, you know. I dig ditches and carry bricks and shovel cement.\nWhen I was seventeen I work for bricklayers and carry hods of mortar to them. These\nhods, you know the big wooden troughs, they weigh eighty ninety pounds when full\nof mortar and I carry them up ladders. So I got very strong. Then I went to\nschool for mechanics and after my training I work on tractors and big trucks\nand buses. Lots of heavy things to lift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They resume their digging and Boris\ncontinues his story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne day when I was twenty-three, my\nfriend Ivan says to me, \u2018Boris, you are so strong. You should be weightlifter\nand go to Olympics.\u2019 So I go to gym and start lifting weights. I did not go to\nthe Olympics, but I got very strong and could lift four hundred pounds. Now I\ndig in my garden and lift heavy things at the garage and sometimes I help my\nfriend Jose move pianos and other heavy things. I am not so strong as I used to\nbe, but I\u2019m still pretty strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen did you come to America?\u201d asks\nMichael, resting for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSixteen years ago,\u201d says Boris,\nthrowing a last shovelful into Michael\u2019s barrow. \u201cIs enough for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerfect,\u201d says Michael, sweating\nprofusely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They head for the dumping site,\nMichael much relieved to have a lighter load this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou do this for a few days,\u201d says\nBoris, nodding, \u201cyou will be much stronger. You are young. You\u2019ll see. You will\nbe sore but then you will be stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat made you decide to come to\nAmerica?\u201d asks Michael, dumping his load and pausing to catch his breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy friend Alex came to San\nFrancisco and after he work there for a year he opens his garage and calls me\nand says, \u2018Boris. Come to San Francisco and work for me. I pay you very well.\nLife is good here. The grocery stores are full of food. It never snows here and\nMaria can grow flowers all year long.\u2019 So we apply to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They return to the pond and resume\ntheir digging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut there is long waiting list,\u201d\nsays Boris, going on with his story. \u201cImmigration says we must wait three or\nfour years before we can come. Maybe never. So I call Alex with bad news and he\nsays, \u2018I know someone who can help you. I will speak to him.\u2019 So he does and Immigration\nsay we can come.\u201d Boris stops digging. \u201cDo you know who helped us come here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTell me,\u201d says Michael, glad to\ntake another little break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mayor of San Francisco,\u201d says\nBoris, laughing. \u201cAlex fixes his Mercedes. Two of them. One new, one classic.\nHe tells Mayor, \u2018I have friend in Russia who is genius with Mercedes. I want\nhim for my garage. Can you help him come here?\u2019 A month later we are in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what brought you to Mercy?\u201d\nasks Michael, resuming his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boris works for a while before\nanswering. \u201cIrenia was\u2026\u201d He stops shoveling. \u201cIs hard for me to tell you,\nMichael. Is tragic. Irenia was only ten, but tall and very pretty and\u2026 the men\nwere coming after her, so\u2026 I saw job open at Mercy Garage and we come here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so sorry, Boris,\u201d says Michael,\nthinking of his one-year-old daughter Jenna and the dangerous world she\u2019s been\nborn into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs okay,\u201d says Boris, smiling\nwarmly at Michael. \u201cWe love it here. Ziggurat Farm, you know, makes everything\ngood for Irenia and good for us, too. And now we will have a pond.\u201d He resumes\nhis shoveling. \u201cWhat brought you and Daisy to Mercy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe came to have supper at Raul\u2019s\nrestaurant,\u201d says Michael, speaking of Ocelot<\/em>,\nthe renowned eatery on the headlands in Mercy. \u201cMy wife was a fan of Raul\u2019s\ncookbooks and his memoir and it was her dream to dine at Ocelot<\/em>. Once we were here, we never wanted to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd now your sister Caroline and\nRaul will soon be married.\u201d Boris smiles at the thought of big handsome Raul and\nbeautiful Caroline. \u201cMaria and Irenia love your sister. They sit with her at\nparties in the farmhouse and laugh and laugh. How do you say? They tickle funny\nbones on each other. And Raul, he is great man. We have never gone to his\nrestaurant, but we eat the food he makes here for parties. He and Philip are\nunbelievable cooks. I never taste such good food until I come here. Maria is very\ngood cook, but these men are geniuses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCaroline and Raul are not<\/em> soon to be married and may never be,\u201d\nsays Michael, annoyed that Boris thought so. \u201cThey\u2019re just living together.\nShe\u2019s the hostess at Ocelot<\/em> now and\nlearning to manage the restaurant, though she\u2019s due back at the University of\nNew Hampshire in August, so\u2026\u201d He shrugs. \u201cI don\u2019t know what she\u2019s gonna do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cMaria knows,\u201d says Boris, the wheelbarrows\nfull again. \u201cShe says they will get married in fall and Caroline will not go\nback to college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow does Maria know that?\u201d ask\nMichael, piqued by Boris sounding so sure of himself. \u201cI just spoke to Caroline\nyesterday and she<\/em> doesn\u2019t even know\nwhat she\u2019s going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d says Boris, wheeling his\nwheelbarrow out of the pond, \u201cmy wife\u2026 oh is not important. Never mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael pushes his half-full\nwheelbarrow after him. \u201cNo tell me, please. I\u2019m\u2026 did you know Irenia claims she\ncould see this pond as it was before it got filled with dirt and logs? And that\u2019s\nwhy we dug down and found the basin? Because she was adamant there was a pond\nhere?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I know,\u201d says Boris, dumping\nhis barrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael dumps his load and they head\nback to the pond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe told me you didn\u2019t believe\nher,\u201d says Boris, ahead of Michael on the well-worn track. \u201cIs hard to believe,\nI know, but they do this. Maria\u2019s mother and grandmother could do this, too. Is\nin their blood, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo what?\u201d says Michael, his\nintellect set hard against the idea that Irenia saw the pond as it was in the\npast and that Maria can know with any certainty what Caroline and Raul are\ngoing to do. \u201cWhat\u2019s in their blood?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell\u2026\u201d says Boris, choosing his\nwords carefully, \u201cthey can see things most people cannot see. You and Caroline\ncould not see the pond. The other children could not see the pond. But Irenia saw\nit because\u2026 she can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd your wife can see that Raul and\nCaroline are going to get married in the fall and Caroline will not<\/em> go back to the university?\u201d says\nMichael, infuriated with Boris for believing Maria can predict the future. \u201cHow\nis that possible?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d says Boris,\nshrugging. \u201cI fix engines, Michael. I use a pick and shovel very well. I cannot\nsee the future or the past. I don\u2019t have this talent. But Maria does and so\ndoes Irenia, even if you can\u2019t believe it.\u201d He shrugs again. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t\nmatter. Please don\u2019t be upset. They don\u2019t hurt anyone by knowing these things. Sometimes\nthey help. Look at us. We are digging out the pond because Irenia saw it. Yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, we\u2019re digging out the pond\nbecause we dug down and confirmed there was a basin here,\u201d says Michael, unable\nto suppress his rage. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re here. Not because of some idiotic\nmagical hocus pocus bullshit<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe is bullshit to you, but not\nto me,\u201d says Boris, calmly. \u201cMy wife is not an idiot, Michael. She is very\nsensible person. So is Irenia. They just have this other talent you don\u2019t know\nabout. In the same way I don\u2019t know many things you know about. I know how to\nfix engines. You know about birds and science. We know different things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael looks away from Boris to try\nto calm down, and he recalls a night in the farmhouse this past December when\nNathan, a good friend, predicted that Michael\u2019s parents would undergo\nmiraculous transformations within a few days of their coming to Ziggurat Farm,\nand how infuriated he was with Nathan for making such a ludicrous prediction\nabout people he knew nothing about\u2026 and then Michael\u2019s parents did<\/em> undergo miraculous transformations after\na few days on the farm, and they ceased to incessantly sing and hum and whistle\nas they had for Michael\u2019s entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m thirsty,\u201d says Boris, leaning his\nshovel against his wheelbarrow. \u201cLet\u2019s go have some water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael nods mutely and follows\nBoris out of the hole to where they left their water bottles and snacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they\u2019ve drunk their fill, Michael\nsays, \u201cI\u2019m sorry I got angry with you. It\u2019s just\u2026 so many inexplicable things have\nhappened to me since I quit teaching and we came here, including meeting Philip\nat Ocelot<\/em> and him inviting us to\nvisit the farm and our knowing<\/em> the moment\nwe arrived this was where we wanted to spend the rest of our lives, and now we live\nhere. Then my parents were coming for Christmas and Nathan predicted they would\nbe healed of their lifelong afflictions after they got here, and they were. Impossible.\nYet it happened. And then my brother, my cynical, selfish, angry brother came\nto visit and changed overnight into a sweet caring person, and now both he and\nCaroline are thinking of quitting their very good jobs as university\nprofessors, though neither of them has much money.\u201d He gazes into the huge hole\nthat was once full of water and teaming with life. \u201cAnd now this pond is here\nas your daughter knew it would be, though this was just flat ground when we came\nhere a week ago.\u201d He gazes forlornly at Boris. \u201cI hardly know who I am anymore.\nFor me to believe Irenia could see<\/em>\nthis pond and that Maria might know before the fact that Caroline and Raul will\nget married is\u2026 if that\u2019s true, then everything I\u2019ve ever believed is false.\nI\u2019ve built my life on scientific facts that cannot even begin<\/em> to explain what I\u2019ve witnessed and what has happened to me\nsince coming here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I know how you are feeling,\u201d\nsays Boris, nodding sympathetically. \u201cI think you are having identity crisis. I\nhad one of those when our children died, both in the same month. Yelena was six.\nSasha was nine. I could not make my body do anything for many months after they\ndied. If Maria had not fed me, I would have died, too, because I did not want\nto live. But then I got better and we came to San Francisco and I had another crisis,\nand then another crisis when we came to Mercy. Everything I knew, everything I trusted\nwould be there was gone. It feels like you are falling, doesn\u2019t it? Not falling\noff a cliff, but slowly falling through the air and you think, \u2018Oh my God, I\u2019m\ngoing to hit the ground and die.\u2019 But you don\u2019t hit the ground, Michael. What\nhappens is you fall for a long time and then one day the ground rises up to you\nand touches the bottom of your feet, and when you can trust is safe again, you\nlet yourself stand and feel the ground is solid, and you can go on. You know? Everything\nyou could not believe is now the ground you are walking on. You\u2019ll see. You\u2019ll\nfeel better soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fin<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rise and Fall<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday, April 12, on Ziggurat Farm, two miles inland from the remote northern California coastal town of Mercy, the homeschoolers Vivienne, Alma, Henri, Larry, Arturo, and Irenia, ages eleven to fourteen, and their science teachers Michael and Caroline, discovered what was once a small pond at the northeast corner of the five-acre farm, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6918,6914,6916,6919,6920,6917,6923,6921,9,33,6922,6915,6788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4716,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712\/revisions\/4716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}