Morning all. I hope you had a good weekend. Mine was soggy. We had nonstop rain and flooding throughout our area. Fun stuff. We are dry, but many creeks decided to leave their banks and go visiting. So it was a stay out of the way of others sort of weekend for me. But Monday is here and while the clouds are still filling the sky the rain is not, at the moment, falling. So perhaps today wee dry out. For now, lets start the morning prompt. It is the last one for September. Hopefully it will be good. Timers set and off we go.
Apparently the rain seeped into my writing, even if it might night go in the tent.
Monday, September 30th: They spread the cloth across the ground.
They spread the cloth across the ground. It was supposed to keep the water from wicking up into the bottom of the tend and making me soaked in the night. I had my doubts. The ground we passed through looked damp enough to seep through any cloth and the air itself felt wet enough to wring. Still they were kind enough to set things up for me, us really ass I saw other teams around the field doing the same.
The field was unused and I was beginning to think that unused was less about letting the land lie fallow for a season to restore it and more due to drainage issues, but still it was a place to stay, sort of, while things were sorted.
Personally I would have preferred a hotel room, or even a cheap motel room. Thoe had electricity and indoor plumbing. I looked over at the row of Port-a-johns that were being shifted into place at the edge of the field. I used the bathroom before arrival, but as it looked like this was going to be home for at least a week, I knew I would have to use them sooner or later.
While I knew those here would be respectful as we all had to use them, I long since found out I had some sort of allergy to the industrial cleaner they used on the giant portable plastic out houses I was glad they used such a strong disinfectant, but each time I used the facilities, I knew I would come out sneezing and stuffy. As the stuffed nose would take at least an hour to clear, I would have to time my usage of the bathroom to account for the stuffy nose.
‘At least if the wifi is operational and I will be able to digitally attend my meetings.’
I was promised that I could continue my business as usual. Like the ability of the ground cloth to prevent water from seeping into my tent, I doubted their willingness to let me get on with business as usual. I suspected that since we were here, there would be attempts to use the time to build relationships.
As those in my division tended to prefer just to be left alone to do what needed to be done, I imagined there would be some awkward meet and greets at a minimum. Since all of us had known each other since the age of five, we knew each other well, They would be the only new meetings.
I shook off the thought of what was to come and studied the erection of the tent that would be my home in the immediate future. As they erected it, the tent looked less tentlike and more like a dome attempting to be a teepee. It had a semi-wigwam shape but for some reason it seemed to want to go pointy at the top.
‘Maybe it is the hole in the top,’ I thought watching them put it up. I wandered if they expectd me to make a fire inside. ’Or maybe cook on a portable stove or something that needs to let fumes and smoke out.’
To my relief above the hole in the top was erected a mini tarp. It stood about ten inches above the hole to allow the passage of smoke or whatever else they expected but looked designed to prevent the rain rom coming in. I knew I was to room in the tent for at least a week, but I didn’t think I would be cooking there a well. The hole in the roof made me question the few details I had been given.
Ten til Midnight 