I went out this afternoon ready to keep sifting. A strainer in hand, I got to work turning over the soil in the circled path, shaking out anything that didn’t belong.
And once again, the strainer earned its keep. I found more broken glass buried in the dirt — more than I expected, honestly. It’s sobering every time. But it’s exactly why I’m moving as slowly and carefully as I am. This ground needs to be safe enough for my mom to walk on, barefoot, without a second thought. So slow and careful it is. After about an hour, the afternoon heat got to be too much, and I knew it was time to head back in. But before I did, I made sure to tamp down all the soil I’d already sifted — pressing it firm so that when you step on it, your foot stays on top instead of sinking in the way it would in loose sand.
I came back out around four o’clock, and this time I brought something extra — an outdoor dining chair for my mom. The area was clear enough now that she could sit down, feet bare, right there on the ground while I kept working beside her.
That was a good moment. I kept sifting while she sat with her feet on the earth. As soon as she put her feet down, she said the soil felt nice and warm. She’d come out wearing a fleece top, even though it’s late July. Then I put my own bare feet down on the same patch of ground, and to me it felt nice and cool. Same soil, same moment, two different sensations for two different people. It made me think that maybe God made the soil this way on purpose, so that it meets each person according to what their body needs.
The spot itself was pleasant at that hour since the sun had moved to the other side of the house. And as she sat there grounding her feet, I noticed she kept drifting off, dozing a little in the chair.
For my part, I pulled up my own small foldable chair near the soil and sat there sifting, with my bare feet planted on the ground the whole time. Not just now and then — the whole session, feet down in the dirt while my hands kept working the strainer. By the end of it, I’d sifted for about an hour and a half total and tamped down the rest of what I could reach. I’m now sitting at about two or three feet short of completing a full quarter of the circle. All told, I was out there a little over two and a half hours, and barefoot on the ground for a little over an hour of that.
I knew going in that this was going to be slow work. Every piece of glass I pull out is one less thing my mom could ever step on. That’s worth every extra minute. To be continued…
📍 Progress So Far
- ✅ Sod removed from resting circle
- ✅ Large and medium rocks removed
- 🔄 Sifting soil with fine strainer (glass and debris removal)
- 🔄 Tamping down sifted sections
- ⬜ Complete sifting/tamping for full circle
- ✅ Outdoor dining chair brought out for mom to sit and ground her feet
- ✅ First time mom sat with bare feet on the cleared ground