Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
158
Adventures in Contentment
·
David Grayson
57
--So
I
dug.
There
is
something
fine
in
hard
physical
labour,
straight
ahead:
no
brain
used,
just
muscles.
I
stood
ankle-deep
in
the
cool
water:
every
spadeful
came
out
with
a
smack,
and
as
I
turned
it
over
at
the
edge
of
the
ditch
small
turgid
rivulets
coursed
back
again.
I
did
not
think
of
anything
in
particular.
I
dug.
A
peculiar
joy
attends
the
very
pull
of
the
muscles.
I
drove
the
spade
home
with
one
foot,
then
I
bent
and
lifted
and
turned
with
a
sort
of
physical
satisfaction
difficult
to
describe.
At
first
I
had
the
cool
of
the
morning,
but
by
seven
o'clock
the
day
was
hot
enough!
I
opened
the
breast
of
my
shirt,
gave
my
sleeves
another
roll,
and
went
at
it
again
for
half
an
hour,
until
I
dripped
with
perspiration.
"I
will
knock
off,"
I
said,
so
I
used
my
spade
as
a
ladder
and
climbed
out
of
the
ditch.
Being
very
thirsty,
I
walked
down
through
the
marshy
valley
to
the
clump
of
alders
which
grows
along
the
creek.
I
followed
a
cow-path
through
the
thicket
and
came
to
the
creek
side,
where
I
knelt
on
a
log
and
took
a
good
long
drink.
Then
I
soused
my
head
in
the
cool
stream,
dashed
the
water
upon
my
arms
and
came
up
dripping
and
gasping!
Oh,
but
it
was
fine!
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
