8/28-9/1/23 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

Traffic was backed up all the way from Index to Eagle Falls. As I finally crept all the way and past the sharp corner at Eagle Falls, I saw a tow truck trying to right a car that was upside down in the ditch. My lane began to speed up, but the oncoming lane was at a dead stop all the way to Baring. I was delayed about an hour as a result.

I arrived at 12:30. The air was smoky and hot. I brought my gear up in two trips, hoisted the flag, and then had my lunch and a nice long nap.

On Tuesday morning there was a violent thunderstorm at 4:00 in the morning. The air was smoky, so I closed all the windows. I practiced the piano and then Robert called. We had a fairly long conversation. Then I went to work on the pantry and listened to the radio before I had my lunch and a nap. When I got up, I went back to work in the pantry and was happy to get all the boards in place. Two of them still needed to be fastened but at least they fit in place.

On Wednesday morning there was heavy rain early. I practiced the piano and then fastened the two remaining boards in the pantry. I called John to find out how he had weathered the hurricane and we talked for about an hour. He was unaffected by the storm but told me that Tim's house was flooded.

After lunch and a nap, I emptied all the remaining things out of the pantry and cleaned it so that it would be ready for painting. Sometime during the day, I decided to begin installing the rock facing on the foundation by myself.

I had talked to a stone mason earlier with the intent of hiring him to build the wall. He was booked up until next spring and since I still was not sure I couldn't do the job myself, rather than waste the time remaining this fall I figured I could get some work done and learn whether it was feasible for me to do the entire job. We'll see what I can get done before it freezes.

On Thursday morning I painted the top half of the pantry and then had my lunch and a nap. When I got up, I painted the bottom half, which took me all the rest of the day. I was happy that the first coat was done.

On Friday morning I practiced the piano and then began preparations for starting a rock wall. To start with, I went looking for suitable weep holes to place at the bottom of the rock wall that I planned to build. I found a box of plastic straws that were perfect for use as weep holes. That solved one small problem to get started building the wall. Next, I worked on getting a water supply for the work site. I found a length of hose about 30 feet long, but it was broken and needed to be repaired. I replaced the fitting on one end, and I found nozzle that would work on the other end. Then I attached it to the wye that was already installed for my irrigation hose. Now I have a water supply for making mortar and cleaning rocks and tools.

Next, I moved a bunch of boards that were stored on the footing ledge and then cleaned the ledge with the hose. Then I searched around and found a rock that I will use as the first stone in the wall. I placed the stone on the ledge dry since I didn't have any mortar and took a picture of it. I am really excited about starting that rock laying project. It has been delayed 30 years and it's about time to get going.

I left for home at 12:40 feeling a strong sense of enthusiasm about getting back to doing some hard work.