Absolutely ducky

"Mr. Stafford [meaning Shawn] calls every morning," Brantley was saying Tuesday. That's why the piers for the deck are now poured, and why he was prying up the concrete walk to get ready for brick pavers.

"Good thing they mixed this up with saltwater," he said between swings and pries. "Makes it soft. And they didn't use no wire."

He was working while Nate, who'd been shoveling, went home to change shirts, so we could go pick up more cement mix at the lumberyard. As we got back with ten 80-pound bags, there was Mr. Stafford, [meaning Ref]. Dollie was at the wheel of his big truck, and they'd just got back from the doc's office, and Ref wanted to swing by the house for a quick view.

It was a drizzly morning, but seeing his grand smile made it feel like a full, gentle sun. He looks great, and he's completely stoked about the progress.

Shawn is returning with a crew this weekend, Mr. B said -- and I think with that, with the HVAC guys coming this week, with Matt and Denny back from the wedding, with Chris the pool guy (who I'd run into in an earlier visit to the lumberyard) coming back to do his pipe placement, with the propane folks coming to scope out the lot before the deck goes in, with my painting plan now submitted to the historic commission review folks. ...

I'd call that significant progress. So when our friend Sullins called Tuesday afternoon asking if I had plans for dinner, we ended up at 915 on Duval, which I couldn't get Robert to during his stay, and I had duck confit on a salad, and it was as lovely as the rest of the day. The Sicilian nero d'Avola didn't hurt either.