"December/2020"
I've always had a thing for windmills…
In 2017 when I was building a new vintage style rock house, I dreamed of having a windmill in the front, next to the road. Not one of those little silver garden ones, but a full sized, previously owned, classic working windmill. I was so sure of where I wanted it that when the contractors were pouring the front porch, I had them make a 4'x4' concrete slab in anticipation of my dream coming true. However, as it sometimes goes when building a new home, the money set aside for the windmill was eaten up by funds needed to pay down the construction loan. My dream would just have to wait.
As time went by, I became aware that I had been mistaken about the placement of the concrete slab. If the windmill was to be at the current location, it couldn't be seen from inside the house. One day I was commenting about this to my next-door neighbor and he said, "I can help you with that". He continued to say that the next time he and my next-door neighbor (on the other side) had the right rental equipment on site, it would be no trouble to lift the slab out of the ground and use a jackhammer to break it apart. We could get rid of it by putting it piece by piece into the weekly trash. Seemed like a good plan…
Early one morning I looked out to see my neighbor and his friend with a rented Bobcat working to dislodge the slab. Because of the trees and cactus, I couldn't see exactly what they were doing, but after a while I could tell it wasn't going well. (I had learned a long time ago to stay away when men are working, and things aren't going as expected.) Then… it got really quiet as all activity came to a complete halt. Later my neighbor came by to tell me that they had come up against a big problem. Assuming the thickness of the concrete to be about six inches, they were surprised to find it was actually closer to twelve. They had to make several attempts to unearth the unexpected, oversized slab. When it finally let go, the whole thing sort of flopped out, still right side up, but now it was tilted forwards. The final aggravation came when they tried to break it apart. It was so thick, the jackhammer only succeeded in making a bunch of divots. They would have to come back another time with a bigger jackhammer. I'm sure the expression "No good deed goes unpunished" came to their minds, because it sure came to mine!
Well, that was several months ago. Since I couldn't see the slab from inside the house or from my driveway, it never bothered me much… I was sure they would eventually get it done. Folks driving or walking by must have wondered why such a huge chunk of concrete was just left there. From the very beginning while looking at that same piece of trash, I had seen something different; something almost providential… So recently I had the thought it was time to finish the work that had been laid out before me.
Below is a photo of the concrete slab as it was after being ejected from its original location. I asked a few folks to tell me if they could visualize that slab being anything more than just a hunk of concrete. A photo text to an out-of-town family friend brought this response, "A grave marker" (Not quite the answer I was looking for). While we were standing in front of it, my neighbor said firmly, "A mistake". "No-o, put on your other hat and look again," I said. "Okay, it looks like a ramp that I could ride my bike up and over". Then after some coaxing, he said, "A book". So, I'll ask you. What do you "see?”
After texting the photo to my artistic sister-in-law in Canada, she saw exactly what I did… Without hesitation she said, "A Bible". Yes, from the very first time, that's what I saw… an open Bible. All it needed was scripture.
Boy...was this ever out of the area of my expertise! I knew that it had to be done right and I needed a recommendation. I contacted Mark of Rock-Solid Solutions who had provided the natural rock for my house. I sent him the photo and told him of my idea. He knew just the guy - John Proios of Proios Sandblasting & Engraving. John has been in the sandblasting business in Tucson for almost 40 years and is one of the very few to do this type of work. It was surprising to me to find out that sandblasting would even be involved in such a delicate technique. Some of his projects have included much of the concrete/rock engraving at the U of A, as well as the recent completion of “The January 8th Memorial.” After texting John the photo, we discussed the development of my idea, and he explained what was involved in the engraving process. A rubber stencil would be created from my layout design. To ensure it didn't slip during the sandblasting, there was a heat activated adhesive on the back of the stencil. As it was critical that the adhesive be heated to the proper temperature, John had a most impressive portable blowtorch that did the job. The slab was composed of a rock aggregate with a thin smooth top layer of concrete. There was just enough depth to carve in the scripture design with the existing divots and a line to suggest an open bible. It must be noted that before the work started, my neighbor had evicted the local packrat population that had taken up residence under the slab. Greatly appreciated!
I enjoyed working with and getting to know John and Claudia (John's wife, helper and safety officer.) Prior to the actual engraving, there were some trips to verify measurements and thoroughly clean the concrete before applying the stencil. At one point John asked if I wanted him to chip a little off the top to make it look more like pages in a book. To that I said no, it's important not to change anything. It HAD to be exactly as it came out of the ground. Consequently, the only addition made to that chunk of trash concrete was the top surface design and scripture "The Lord is my Shepherd…" taken from the 23rd Psalm.
F r o m T r a s h T o T r e a s u r e
A Roadside Photograph
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