Global warming. Have discussed this ad nauseam on this blog. It is the reason for the swing shifty weather that is either hotter/colder than normal, the rising sea level, the bigger and more frequent hurricanes. To think, these are just the elements affecting Boxes in Fields. Not even gonna discuss globally as there are dissertations written way better than I could ever explain. Read them. Watch them. Dissertations too long? Read books/blogs. Watch vlogs. Climate change is real.

Well here it is the middle of August and peak hurricane season. Everyday the water gets hotter and every twelve hours NOAA updates the hurricane page. Everyday we watch and wait. Four years ago to date Hurricane Harvey tried to destroy everything we worked so hard at to create. Luckily the Shop Boxes and chicken coop held as designed and the Doubter’s trailer, while trashed against the trees, was replaceable. The trees still look hammered and there are numerous homes in town with blue roofs as insurances/FEMA are fighting it out as to who is responsible. Nobody is responsible. Everybody is responsible.

Since then every decision for building and living at Boxes in Fields is planned around and designed against hurricanes and standing water. Hurricane season 2020 set a precedent with new total storms per year record, new high winds reached record, a new longer season record. While 2021 season is not forecasted to reach into the Greek Alphabet of names again, the storms started earlier than normal and are already bigger than normal. Ugh. Even if the storm does not reach our portion of the Coastal Bend, the rain bands sometimes do. And it seems that every time it rains it pours and with pouring rains come flooding waters.

Three too many times in the last four years the Kids’ box has had water lapping at its doors. Standing water is becoming a more than once a year thing. Again, climate change, but more immediately because of population growth. Every time a new resident moves into our corner of the neighborhood fill dirt is brought over by the dump truck load. Load after load after load. It takes a lot of fill dirt/sand to raise a 2500sft home footprint four feet or more in the air to be above sea level. A. FREAKING. LOT. Sadly every time a new neighbor moves in, the water flow into the bay is yet again disrupted causing the water to back up into any low spot available. Even more sad is the lowest spot seems to be Boxes in Fields backyard. Raising the Kid’s Box will eliminate water issues at the doors while providing protection against hurricane wind issues as the box can now be secured onto footings.

Since the Doubter had come on Wednesday afternoon with his skid steer to help move House Boxes onto the concrete pad for, it was decided that raising the Kid’s Box was just as easy as moving the box. Boxes on the concrete pad, their final, resting place before lifting upwards for home placement. Upward, what a strange concept.

Moving the Kid’s Box Thursday morning turned out to be easy peasy even after it was discovered that the skid steer would not pick up the box as originally thought. Designed/rated and doing/achieving are as different as black and white. Even with a chain hoist pulling the top of the box against the skid steer, the box wouldn’t budge.

Even emptied of its contents, and good grief who knew there was so much CRAP inside this tiny box, would the box lift with just the skid steer. Not even a budge enough to lift off the blocks it currently resides on for height. Residing to assistance from the tractor on one side and the skid steer on the other, the box was easily moved.

Unlike the Shop Box and Work Box the Kid Box was being raised and attached to recycled telephone poles. They are solid hardwood soaked in thick creosote to protect against constant water from tides coming up and down. Weather treated piers would have been better but good grief who can afford those especially when these poles were free? Dug out and cut in half, the poles were ready to be placed into the ground.

Did I mention as to how disgustingly soaked these poles were in creosote? Just look at it all! The smell, the stickiness, the environmental damage. Gross. But we gotta do what we gotta do and we are only working within the confinements of a society standards. If the powers that be created more environmentally friendly products that were cost efficient and product effective then more consumers would use them. Alas, big business does what is best for their pocketbooks with no regards to longevity of the world. Result in point, creosote soaked hardwood poles. Anchor points were located, ensured against electrical lines already buried, marked, and dug deep down into the ground.

Previous footings were dig with the tractor backhoe and shovels. Not this time. This time, the Doubter borrowed the post hole digger from Not The Doubter with the promise it would be washed of all sandy, salty soil as to not rust. Not a new concept to Boxes in Fields as I have ranted numerous times about tools, but good grief all mighty, having the correct tools for a job makes the job so much easier. A post hole digger did in less than five minutes what would have taken hours by hand. Dig down, spin clean, repeat.

Each hole produced a different result in the dirt layers. One was entirely sand, another blue caliche, one was a mixture, and one filled with water before the digger post was even set. Luckily the water did not need to be removed with a shop vac like all the concrete footings here, here, and here.

Pole was carried over, set into place, and tamped to hold correct left and right position. These had to be perfectly perpendicular as they were getting flanges screwed into them on the side at the box bases.

Friday morning poles were cut to the appropriate height as decided on by the Planner. These were not the required four feet stated by county to be above the flood line but then again this box is ONLY temporary. Temporary. Once the House Box is up this is being moved and turned into the Guest Box placed amongst the trees on the other side of the property.

With correct height set on two poles, the box was pushed back into place and then lifted onto poles.

Having not pushed far enough back to clear the post hole digger, the tractor was used to anchor the poles while the Doubter pushed the box back.

Poles three and four were done with the same level ease. No, actually much easier as the skid steer was not crammed into a corner between a fence, the box, and a tree. Oh, and the fragile oleander bush. So much easier.

One Kid Box raised and its not even noon! Hot dog isn’t it wonderful when things go smoothly? Smoothly is a foreign word at Boxes in Fields.

With the rest day the day ahead of us, time was spent tidying up and preparing for the House Boxes rodeo. Things like cable ditches filled in, scrap 2×4 boards for drag lines, and extra chains for pulling.

Bright early Saturday, the House Boxes. One box was never unloaded and the other is sitting on cut telephone pole chunks since it was brought home at the end of December 2018. Every single box transition from trailer to ground or trailer to subframe stresses me out and I expected the same for transitions back onto a trailer, too.

Unloading of House Box #1was easy peasy said the Doubter and the Planner. To me is was nerve wracking as I kept worrying the box was gonna slip off the trailer sideways or the Doubter was gonna fall off the back of the concrete pad. Using the same concept to remove the box from the trailer to the ground, a large pipe was placed as a roller pin and the box slide off the trailer in small, relatively smooth motions.

Loading House Box #2 took some different planning and multiple attempts. It was very low to the ground and the skid steer still would not pick up one end all by itself. It was like the little engine that could but didn’t or Sam I Am but stuck on do not. The Doubter tried this and that, here and there, attempt after attempt, all with the same results. Seriously, he could barely pick up the one end off the block.

Just like the Kid Box, with the skid steer on one side and the tractor on the other, the box was picked up and the trailer was backed underneath as far as it could go. Rolling pipe was placed underneath and the box was rolled forward with just the use of the skid steer. Yes, just the skid steer. For some reason or another when the Doubter went to attempt to pickup again the skid steer did what it was designed to do. It picked up the box as if it was a box of feathers.

Box #2 was loaded and ready for delivery. Too bad there is just not enough time to prepare the driveway and move the second box. A front dirt ramp was created at the east side of the pad allowing the skid steer to move up and down for final positioning of the box. This will be removed once the boxes are in position as this will be a mess at the very first rain. The gravel ramp at the back on the west side of the pad was widened to allow for a ramp easily accessed between to the two boxes.

Again bright and early Sunday morning the second box was rolled into place. Things have to be done at near daylight during the summer months. Even still, by 930am all parties involved were wearing sweat soaked shirts and the Doubter having burned his legs the day before was wearing pants. Good grief, poor Doubter. With mad backing skills, the Planner lined up the box onto the pad like he had done it a million times before, the Doubter did his thing with the still working skid steer, and I did my thing by making sure the pipe stayed centered as it rolled off the trailer. From start of the truck to the removal of the trailer, the whole process took less than 30 minutes. 30 minutes! Have I mentioned how great proper tools are? Once the trailer was removed, high lift jacks were used to lower the box onto the pad and with one final tug it was set and done. The rest of Sunday afternoon was lazily cleaned up. Dirt work was done to create a smooth driveway/walkway in front of the boxes, gravel work was done at the back of the Shop Box to create hard base for the tractor to load and unload from, and the skid steer and all its implements were loaded back onto the Doubters trailer. Lazily done as it was upper 90’s in both temperature and humidity.

Monday morning, bright and early, the Doubter left to return the post hole digger and then take the long home where he said he plans to sit in his barcalounger in the cold, cold AC until fall shows up.

Thursday, late afternoon after a full days work, the Planner set out to finish the Kid’s Box anchor plates. No sense in going through all that work to never attach the plates. He wanted to complete them Tuesday but the bolts had to be special ordered and were not delivered until Wednesday. Not quite an overnight delivery but almost. What amazing world we live in where parts ordered and shipped from the east coast makes it to mid-coast Texas in less than two days. What an amazing week!