Sunshine and Slurry

 It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted. Every time I think I'm going to see something new at the work site, my camera catches Henry, digging more dirt than I thought imaginable in such a small space! Don't get me wrong: Henry is a wonderful guy, and watching dirt being dug is oh-so-entertaining. Still, how many pics of a backhoe and dirt do we need?....

So, imagine my sheer delight to look out my office window and see....ok, so I saw dirt being moved around, like always. BUT I also saw SLURRY being poured! Woo Hoo!

We are nearing the time when footers for the addition will be poured! Before that happens the ground needs some reinforcements. (Seems we Presbyterians have a lot of top soil - not only on top, where it normally is found, but running deep in our earth.) Harman calls it "unsuitable soil" for purposes of supporting a structure like we're building, so in comes Rockingham Redi-Mix to the rescue!

Slurry (new word in my vocabulary!) is a mixture of water and cement. Looks like concrete to me, and it is often associated with concrete, but somehow it's a little different. Anyway, it's just what the Harman doctor ordered.

It's exciting to see something new and, dare I say, different, taking place outside my office window. It reminds me that God is always doing new things in our lives! It's helpful to carry a camera.

Here are a few more pics, for the fun of it...

Getting the area ready for the slurry.

Ray, Dale and Michael conferring about the project following
the Progress Meeting, held yesterday (6/9).

Henry, our heroic backhoe operator (Mr. Dirt Digger)
wiping sweat on a day when temps were well over 100.

The area is now ready for slurry. Isn't that a great word?

Ancient-of-days kickers that were used to support the
Woodstock Academy when it was built in the early 1800s. The Academy
became our current Education Wing. There's history all over (and under) the place!

 AND JUST FOR FUN, A HOT AIR BALLOON FLYING OVER THE CHURCH...



Engines and Steel, Loud Pounding Hammers....a building hymn

There's a hymn in our hymnbook entitled "Earth and All Stars." It's what you'd call a modern hymn. It was written in 1964; the tune (which is truly lovely, actually) was composed four years later.

When I was a graduate student at Union Seminary we sang "Earth and All Stars" almost every week in chapel. I'm not sure why, but it seemed to be everyone's favorite hymn. Just not mine. I didn't care too much for it then, and it still strikes me as just a little too contemporary. I hate to show such a bias against modern thought, but this is my blog....

So - imagine my surprise (no, shock is a far better choice of word) when we stood to sing "Earth and All Stars" at Union's graduation ceremony last week! I was immediately transported back in time to my chapel days, when my meat and drink of chapel life centered around this hymn. Here are the words, all six verses of them (I can see Bob Dunn now!)....
Lyrics:
1. Earth and all stars, loud rushing planets,
sing to the Lord a new song!
O victory, loud shouting army,
sing to the Lord a new song!

Refrain: He has done marvelous things.
I, too, will praise him with a new song!

2. Hail, wind, and rain, loud blowing snowstorms,
sing to the Lord a new song!
Flowers and trees, loud rustling leaves,
sing to the Lord a new song! Refrain

3. Trumpet and pipes, loud clashing cymbals,
sing to the Lord a new song!
Harp, lute, and lyre, loud humming cellos,
sing to the Lord a new song! Refrain

4. Engines and steel, loud pounding hammers,
sing to the Lord a new song!
Limestone and beams, loud building workers,
sing to the Lord a new song! Refrain

5. Classrooms and labs, loud boiling test tubes,
sing to the Lord a new song!
Athlete and band, loud cheering people,
sing to the Lord a new song! Refrain

6. Knowledge and truth, loud sounding wisdom,
sing to the Lord a new song!
Daughter and son, loud praying members,
sing to the Lord a new song! Refrain

Here is a video of "Earth and All Stars", from youtube. Let me know what you think!

 

As we were "singing to the Lord a new song" at Union's graduation ceremony, I couldn't help but linger on verse 4: Engines and steel, loud pounding hammers, sing to the Lord a new song! Limestone and beams, loud building workers, sing to the Lord a new song! "That's us! That's Woodstock Presbyterian Church!" I wanted to shout. Randy leaned over and commented, "I know you're going to put that verse in your blog." Such rich fodder for a construction blog, don't you think? (By the way, Randy likes the hymn...a lot.)

 

In all my days, I have never heard and felt such "loud pounding hammers" as we experienced last week at WPC! The workers were pounding the fill composite in, making sure it was as compact as possible. Pictures fell off the walls, lamps off their tables, plants from their usual homes. The building shook. (When you were a kid, did you ever hold a sung note while riding on a rough road? You know what I'm talking about, then.) It was deafening, but funny too. Until it got old. Then it was just irritating. Yet, it was the sound of progress...the sound of God "doing a marvelous thing" at WPC.

 

Maybe it's time we all "sing praises to God with a new song!"

But, hey, I still like the oldies...

 

"Loudly pounded" fill composite....