FROM GRUMPY TO INSANITY

Right out in front of my bedroom window, at this very moment, is a huge noisy machine that looks like this. It is called the Recyclersaurus and it tears up the street as it slowly drags along and turns the asphalt into a dirt road. The city is going to replace the water and sewer pipes on my street and they expect this project to last until November. Even then they say they won't repave the road until next spring.

This machine must use about a million gallons of diesel fuel per second. Now I understand the war for oil. The ground is shaking and the dust is flying. We were told they would start at 7:00 am each morning but they come earlier than that and it lasts until 6:00 pm. Needless to say our sleep at the Addams-Melman House has gone the way of the dinosaurs.

It feels and sounds like we are living on top of a West Virginia mountain that is being strip mined for coal. My sister Laura is to arrive today from Florida for a vacation visit. She is going to love this.

The description of me yesterday by one blog reader as a grump will prove to be true in the days ahead. Be prepared for increasingly surly blog posts.

All the windows are closed to keep the noise and dust out. But the house still shakes and the groans of the Recyclersaurus penetrate the walls. In those rare moments when this monster machine pauses, bulldozers hauling gravel or other big machines move into action. The infernal beeping sound is destroying my brain cells. Thus the pleasures of working at home will now be interrupted for the next three months.

My friend Peter warned us last night to be sure to wash our garden veggies well recognizing that the toxic road dust stirred up by these diesel driven dinosaurs will completely cover our sweet produce. I pain for my new squash bed that I planted this spring in the front yard near the road never suspecting that it would now be under attack by the machines of madness.

Pray for me dear friends. I just might go from grumpy to insane right before your eyes. The only thing that gives me hope is the knowledge that the dinosaurs became extinct - so maybe the Recyclersaurus might as well.

The sooner the better.