The Infinity Table

House building is finite but there's always more to do. Rene arrives and we install the Turkish light in the laundry. It works but we have to fiddle with the chain so it hangs evenly. Rene ate smoked salmon which had been sitting round in the heat in the weekend and has poisoned himself. Last time I did that was in Vietnam eating chicken. It lingered in my system for months. We put up a globe in my room and try to put together the stereo but I haven't got the right plugs. 

It's getting hotter. I try to sort out the garage bracing issue. We need to produce an image before the outside boards were put on. I go to school and find my archived photos. TC is helpful but when I e-mail them through to Kirk they are not the right ones. Says he'll come in tomorrow to have a look. Anyway there has been a council inspection of said garage braces. Complications. 

I continue putting the house to rights. Kahu is up late, in recovery from his late night shifts at the bar. Tom arrives to level up the back. It turns out to be a big earth moving job. Kahu wields a spade and the wheelbarrow. I supply the H2O. Tom puts down a wooden strip, rakes the dirt and sprinkles grass seed. He makes it look easy. He's an expert. The weeds and stones disappear. He tells stories of customers who complain and underpay him. I'm eternally grateful and round up what he asks for. 

Mr Mod, Ross arrives with the glass top for the Snake, infinity table. I bought it two years ago now- another item which was the price of a small car. It's bigger than I remember and we put tape where the glass rests on the metal, but the carpet is visible looking through, telling its own story of long ago in the desert.

At the beach I walk over what look like baby shark carcasses, to get to the water. How they got there, and why they haven't been picked over by sea birds, is a mystery. I drive home via Chris's, ferrying more stuff, and my prize art piece, Llew's Apocolypse sculpture. Veronica and Craig are in the driveway and Craig carries it in for me. Their daughter is a good friend of Llew's granddaughter. Social wheels within wheels. We're connected from here to Kingdom Come. All of us. We drink gin and when they leave I begin the serious business of putting away. The gift that keeps on giving. I lived with less and could do so again.