Can You Dig It?

I've learned a lot from my pool skating brothers. If you want to skate, you can't be afraid to put in a little work. As of Sunday, this is what our tiny backyard looked like. The ladders belonged to the Psycho Painter Dude—long story—and those screens have been off the windows for months. We got the ladders moved to a garage. I moved the screens to another spot on the property.

The dog and I were out there attending to boards. I waxed and put the leash loop in the new hull. Then I did some Solarez surgery on the JB performance noserider.


On Tuesday, I started looking at the yard with an eye toward accommodating the mini-ramp. That's when I went on the attack, removing decades old rose bushes that would inevitably shred me and Soul Brother #2 to pieces when we fell off the ramp. I made them go away. Believe me when I tell you that took some work. In fact, the bush behind the clothesline was a monster. The branches were like tangled, sharp tentacles. Soul Brother #1 had to help me with that one. Its removal required a saw, small clippers, big clippers and a shovel. But by the end of my few hours of clearing, I could see I was on the right track. The point is to make some space for the ramp.

So, out of curiosity, I began digging around the ancient clothesline pole that was probably installed (as was the one on the other end of the yard) when this duplex was built some time during the early part or middle of the last century. I wanted to see how much concrete anchored it into the ground. I was also trying to determine how deeply this thing was set into the ground. I decided I would start digging. I was intent on literally getting to the bottom of this pole. Let the digging begin!



I tried.

Then Soul Brother #1 tried.
Dammit, that clothesline is still there. We've got it to the point where it's rocking back and forth. Obviously, we're close. Close to what? I'm not sure. Nonetheless, I think we're making progress. But the question now is: How in the hell do we get this thing out? Any ideas?