One of the many projects we busted our humps on for the next people (bitterness implied) was finishing a patio I started last summer using gravel and cement squares. Most people use sand as a base. But I wanted to make the job difficulter than it already is cuz that’s the way I roll.
My ten-year old helped me carry the 12” and 16” cement squares and lay them out perfectly. We designed it as we went along, based on how many cement squares we had left of various sizes.
Vincent has a good eye for all things spacial. He suggested the path coming out the doorway with a wider amount of gravel on each side.
He can quickly eyeball the gravel and know if it needs more or less underneath before we place a cement square down. The job went much faster than if I were doing it alone and I enjoyed his company.
Mid-job, Vincent said, “You’re talking to me like I’m a professional.”
I said, “That’s because you’re acting like a professional.”
It was refreshing how Vincent problem solved, rather than did something half-assed like the landscapers when they bumped into a glitch. I relayed the story to Vincent, how I had to babysit the landscapers I hired to put down some mulch, trim trees, lay out the rest of the patio tiles that we were fixing, and rake up the prickle balls from the sweet gum tree that we kept kicking out of our way.
“I don’t think they were really landscapers,” I said. “I think they just needed money and said they were landscapers.”
Using sarcasm that has been in the family for generations, Vincent says, “Why didn’t they just open up a lemonade stand?”
The image of five grown men in hoodies, selling lemonade on the corner comes to mind every time I look at this patio.
Subscribe to the
RSS feed or 
Email Updates.Help us promote this article by bookmarking it to your favorite social network via an icon below:
