The simplest of things

Humans are amazing creatures. We’ve plumbed the depths of the oceans and have sent crafts billions of kilometres into space. We’ve created beautiful works of art and developed evermore complicated ways of killing each other. There seems to be no bounds to our curiosity and intellect yet it is the simplest of things that continue to amaze me.

In the ongoing saga of the work we are getting done at the back of our house, I am pleased to tell you that it is coming to an end. The laying of a patio is the last thing to be done, at least for the time being, though we will have a lot to do once the workers have gone. 

We’ve really struck lucky with the people doing the work. Bill and his team have been amazing, with a mixture of raw talent and experience. If I had done the job myself I would never have thought of the little tricks to make it easier to lay. Two examples come to mind.

The first was the need to put a slight slope on the stonework to make the water run off into the drains. I would have laid the patio absolutely flat (well as flat as I could) and hoped the water would disappear. He laid out and concreted in a ring of edging bricks with the right degree of slope from one side to another, followed by a number of strings that guided the edge of the flagstones to be laid. By laying each flag touching the strings either side, he was guaranteed to get the slope right.

The second was even simpler. The process of laying the slabs took a while, as each was placed on a bed of mortar. As they worked down the patio the temptation to step on existing slabs to fit the new ones became greater. A small stone was placed on top of those that were still wet as a reminder not to walk on them. 

Both these methods were very simple yet highly effective, no doubt learned from observing others and experience. We often think of human achievement in terms of the great when instead it is a cumulation of a myriad of solutions to small problems.