Earth-moving day

It dawned on me after I posted this picture last week of Smooch on coyote watch that something 

was very wrong with it, and I don't mean the focus and color balance. 

That fence used to be 5 feet tall, and Smooch standing on her hind leg tippy toes is 3 feet tall. 

The math didn't add up. The fence didn't shrink and Smooch hadn't grown.

That could only mean one thing: the earth rose. 

Years of wind whipping across the corral had caused a sand dune to form along the fence line. 

The barrier between Smooch and the outside world/coyotes/JohnnyCashCat was suddenly not so formidable.

The earth would have to be lowered.

For once, Smooch's talents were put to good use.

We were making steady progress, and I thought we might be done by noon.

Then I realized both sides of the fence would have to be dug out.

 

The earth on the coyote side of the fence had risen as much, if not more than, on Smooch's side.

All of it would have to go, save for the cemetery where Rosebud and Snapper were laid to rest.

Smooch was very disappointed when I sent her into the house, but I feared for her safety, 

what with all the commotion of moving the Ranger back and forth, in and out of gates.

Besides, it was getting hotter and more humid and I didn't want to accidentally bury her in my delirium.

The upside to all the earth moving was that there were many beneficial places to move it to;

for example, the base of these fence posts, which used to be covered with dirt.

What the wind giveth, the wind taketh away.

There are days when I love my Ranger more than life itself, and this was one of those days.

When all was said and done, the fence was 5 feet high again. 

The danger of Smooch jumping out or a coyote jumping in had diminished.

The fence posts were buried and the drop-offs from the stalls to the pasture were filled in.

I was sort of exhausted but in a good way.

And I couldn't help but smile when Alan pitched in to tamp down the dirt.