Well, I finally got the posts buried and set for the sun sails.

It took 25 bags of concrete mix - each of which had to be poured, watered, mixed, and shoveled into the holes that we'd spent a month or so digging with a jackhammer.

I had 10 bags to start with, and those filled the largest hole (because of the way that it had to be dug) - then I realized that I needed more concrete, and headed off to Home Depot. Sixteen bags was all that I was willing to transport in Ethel's Santa Fe:

                       

Notice how low the trailer hitch is? I had to drive home very carefully.

When I loaded up the truck, I started thinking about my friend Harlan. Harlan is a recovered compulsive overeater.

At one time, before he finally got the message, Harlan weighed 700 lbs. Then he started doing the work, and God stepped in and took care of him, and my friend Harlan has been normal-sized now for a good many years.

These sixteen bags of concrete mix weigh in at 1280 pounds.That's 1.8 Harlans.

Toting these bags around - three or four at a time, with a wheelbarrow, mind you - gave me an idea of just how much weight that might be, and really slammed it home to me what a miracle a normal-sized Harlan is. I don't need to see Charlton Heston part the Red Sea and walk between the waters; I've seen my friend Harlan taking his dog for a five-mile walk, and that's miracle enough for me.