Rocks!

The soil at Lake Esau is officially described as Alpena very gravelly sandy loam.  I now understand why the word very is used.

On Wednesday evening Kyle offloaded his Bobcat, which is certainly a muscular little piece of equipment, and tried to push out a stump in the area where the house will stand.  The stump didn't wish to be pushed!

So he dug down a few inches to see why said stump was so firmly anchored.  What he found was — surprise! — Alpena very gravelly sandy loam.  If the word gravel conjures up images of little stones, such as you might use for a driveway, check out the photo below.  My house site is basically rocks — from tennis ball to softball size, and some much larger — with a little sandy loam thrown in for seasoning.

The Bobcat is a skid-loader, a very
handy gadget on a construction site.

This will be no fool's house built on sand!  I'm building on Alpena very gravelly... well, you get the idea.

The recalcitrant stump.

I thought my lot was a sand dune,
but it's really a rock pile!

A local excavating contractor will be out next week with a backhoe to extract the stumps, grade the drive into the lot, and dig the hole for the foundation.  For now, work is at a standstill.  At least the construction sign and building permits are up.  We must fulfill all righteousness.

[Yesterday afternoon I went to the Library to write this entry, but these photos wouldn't upload.  Nor could I mount the photos using the Clubhouse connection.  It seems that broadband narrows when it gets to Presque Isle!] •••