He rented a skidsteer from a local equipment company and it took him a while to get a workable path from the front of the house, where the soil was dumped, to the back yard. In the meantime, I was a little obsessed with changing the grade by the wall that supports our driveway because it was a little washed out.
After I satisfied myself with the changed grade, I moved my efforts to the back yard, spreading out topsoil.
Lucy was left to entertain herself, because, aside from moving some rocks with me, she wasn't finding any great urge within to do what we were doing. She played in water, watched a few minutes of a movie, rode her Pooh "bike" for a few moments, had snacks, and went back and forth between the front and back yards.
The morning hours went pretty quickly for me, but they must've been long for Lucy. When Brian and I decided to stop for lunch at about 1:40 p.m., I peeled off my grimy shoes and stepped inside. The first thing I noticed was that Lucy was crying. The interior of our house is such that it's a little tricky to localize sound, but I found her right away.
She was on the couch upstairs, curled up in a little ball, sobbing and clutching a blanket--her tears pooling on the couch. The picture of sadness. I scooped her up and asked her if she felt lonely. In response, she nodded gravely and snuggled into my arms.
I told Brian at lunch that I never wanted to see Lucy like that again.
So yesterday was a long day--long for Brian and me, but much longer for Lucy. Here is how I found her after we spent a few hours dancing together in the afternoon:
Today will be a long one too, but soon we'll have some grass!
