Let’s play a game. When I say a word you say the first word that pops into your head. The first word is done for you.
Hot: Cold
Cat:
Down:
Brakes:

Let’s play a different game. When I say a word you describe the image that comes to your mind. Again, the first word is described for you.
Beach: Warm sands, gentle breezes, salty air
Cairn:
Elephant:
Home:

These games are as old as time and they are great tools for teaching in elementary school. If tested your answers against mine they would be very similar with exception to the last word on each section. Unless you are the Kid whose answer was so far off the radar of possible answers. Seriously, when I say brakes he thought chicken? All I can say is: teenager. Brakes are vegetation not just slowing mechanisms (nor related to chickens in any fashion) and home is a place (an actual location) not a house. Easily confused by most but the distinction is critical. In fact I would say the difference between a home and a house is the same as the difference between an American and European chip. Two of my most favorite things in the whole foods department.

Boxes in Fields and its inhabitants have been anything but conventional. Shipping containers on the salty coast line, water collection in a modern society, and less is more. Boxes in Fields is no longer referring to their House Box as a house, a home, or a shipping container as all of these names conjure up a certain image. An image that does not suite Boxes in Fields. The two shipping containers meant for residing upon are here forward being referred to as a dwelling. Dwellings are simply where one lives.

Dwelling Boxes.

Dwelling Boxes on framework.

Building framework is almost second nature to the Planner now. All of the pieces were cut and shaped, and prepped. All that was left was to weld the pieces together, place the framework upright, and weld it to the base plates on the concrete footings. Except being shorter in stature than previous outer frameworks, these were built the same and erected quite easily. Less than two days time and the framework was ready.

Or so we thought. Have you ever had that gut feeling something was wrong but are unable to rectify it? You know the kind where you are lying in bed and just about to fall asleep when you bolt straight up with a sense of panic? Heart racing, breathing jagged, stomach tight? You run around trying to figure it out looking at locked doors, gas stoves, sleeping children, etc… but all is right, yet not right? That sense of dread that is not unfounded but just at the moment cannot be figured out?

From the get go the Planner has had this feeling about the framework. He checked the drawings, restrung the string line, retested the elevations. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Every time the results were the same but every time he was convinced the numbers were wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. It was only upon attempting to erect the framework did his gut feelings come to fruition. Framework did not reach the concrete base plates. Instead they tittered tottered. So yet again, the elevation tools were set up and base plates were measured. Again. This time, when reading the elevation numbers, the base number (to make the legs the same length) was subtracted instead of added. This rookie mistake resulted in three of the four legs on the framework being 1/2″-1″ inch too short in length.

After lots and lots of self berating and a phone call to the Doubter, it was decided that adding the appropriate size spacer was easier done outside than hauling the framework back inside the Shop Box and welding them there. Inside the framework cannot be easily flipped and rotated making welding the spacers very difficult. Outside, the spacers were tacked to the framework and then fully welded once the framework was welded to the concrete base plate.

You might be asking why not just match the legs to the shortest length and move forward? And you would be right in thinking the same simple fix we debated and debated. So much easier to torch off the excess than raising to the correct length. By shortening the legs, however, this would mean the base floor height was not compliant with FEMA flood restrictions. And if there is one rule to adhere with round here it is FEMA. Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt.

Finally after a long, long day, the framework was welded into place meeting the correct heights on all four corners. The Planner was miffed about the calculation errors and miffed even more about the unprofessionalism of the shims. Yes, he can stand there and calmly state shims are engineering approved and yes, he even approved of shims while engineering all those years back, but that doesn’t mean he likes them. Nothing more can be done about it than has already been done anyways. Be more like the Kid. He built a hobo camp and his 4×4 post was not square to the world and leaned inwards more than it should have. C’est la vie.

Next on the list to complete framework/footings was to remove the cracked bits around the base plates. All of the concrete forms have broken around the base plates but these for whatever reason where the worst. Broken bits were needle pointed out and filled with concrete repair mixture. Applying extra concrete also allowed to create a rounded edge hoping to move the water away from the metal and towards the edge of the concrete.

Lastly on the framework/footings list was sandblasting and priming. Since the metal has only been here a few weeks and there has not been any rain the rust that needed to be removed was just mill scale and a slight surface rust. It came off super easy and the whole process including painting from start to finish took less than five hours.

May was a slow month for the Dwelling Boxes as there was lots of work responsibilities. Summer starts next week for the Kid and he already grumpy about it. No access to his friends, no air conditioned buildings all day, no free range on electronics. Add in the hot, very dry weather and it is sure to be a long hostile summer. Very hot and hostile. Since the beginning of the year there has only been 3.82 inches of rain. Everything is dry and salty. Bucket gardens, boats, buildings.

Given an extra week to hang in there in case the rains came, the carrots with their wind burnt tip were pulled from their pots by the middle of the month. Produce were either stumpy in stature or extra long and skinny and both were woody in texture. Carrots are clearly not a summer plant at Boxes in Fields. Maybe I will try again next fall after the Dwelling Boxes are done.

Tomatoes were experiencing burnt leaves and withering edges in the late afternoon sun by the first weekend in May. Even adding extra water could not keep the plants from wilting so they were moved. Again. This time there were stuck against the south fence to be protected from the never ending winds while still have access to plenty of daytime sun. Since they are indeterminate plants, a cattle panel was placed above the buckets and across the top of the neighbors fence. Hopefully with time, the plants will grow up and over giving lots of space for tomatoes to grow and thrive. To keep the out the pesky chickens and the fluffy cat, bird netting was wrapped around the base with pots set atop of 2×6 boards to eliminate fire ant infestation. By the end of the month, the plants had doubled in size and returned to a bright green in coloring. Clearly the south wind block location suits their needs. Now if it would just rain.

Rain this year is like hens teeth. Last year we couldn’t give away, this year we are begging for dustings of rain. It used to be I would ask for one in per week. Now I would settle for one inch per month. Humans are 60% water and we are drying out quickly. Boxes in Fields is collecting every drop of water from sinks, showers, and air conditioners to water plants and save on the ever dwindling water supply. 6000 gallons doesn’t last long even with our excessively tight water allotment and three inches of rain has only collects 900 gallons. Every time it looks like rain is headed our way, the clouds part and we are left with drizzle or less. Here is it the end of May and the skies finally did open up and drop a half inch of rain. Sadly, the ground and plants are so dry that by the end of the day everything was wilting again. Here’s to June, our historically rainy month.