I’ll have the special...

I may have mentioned that this is an archeological excavation, and that there is some digging involved in the process. It is not all like the movies-- we don’t get bull-whips and fedoras-- and we don’t get chased by Nazi’s, sword-carrying Arabs, or giant boulders in tunnels. We do get a lot of dirt. By a lot, I mean it gets measured in tonnes and meters cubed.

For the last two weeks we have been removing the primary layer of rubbish that is sitting on top of the interesting stuff. As far as “artifacts” go-- we’ve found broken glass, pottery, and rusty metal bits (nails and wire from the old slate roofs).

If we do find anything interesting, we record it as a “special find”-- a term which is unique to this project by most accounts (no “real” archeologist uses the term). To date we’ve found one coin, pieces of a mug with relief on the sides, and a rusty key which all number among the more interesting discoveries.

In the meantime, we entertain each other with anecdotes and bad jokes. Sometimes we listen to music off of someone’s computer-- or we sing. We are also developing our own fairy tale kingdom-- I’ve become a powerful archbishop/duke in the world of “trench fantasies” where I have risen from a mere monk to aid in the rise and fall of various noble houses, fight against heathens, and build fabulous cathedrals!