Cul-de-sac

 The edge of Harmony

is abrupt, barely softened

by rows of planter boxes

spilling caged tomatoes.

A crumbling cul-de-sac

forks off Avenue 247

just beyond the cages.

Red says, you might find

this interesting, hang a left.

At the terminus of the

cul-de-sac, where street

becomes a wide circle,

four houses squat on

wedge-shaped lots.

Each is surrounded by

metal scaffolding and

many ladders.

Teams of people wearing

white painter’s overalls

and what seems to be

the standard in Harmony:

wide-brimmed straw hats.

The crew on one of the

houses is passing terra cotta

roof tiles to people on the scaffold.

They load the tiles into buckets

and lower them to a crew

on the ground who stack

the tiles on palettes.

The house next to it

is already roofless. Even

the siding has been removed

and a crew inside the skeleton

is disassembling plumbing

and wiring.

The third house has been

stripped of most of its

studs, the lumber sorted

into piles roughly according

to size. Two people are

locating and removing

any nails, screws or metal.

-You’re right. This is interesting.

I see that these houses are

being taken apart. Recycling?

-Waste not, want not. These

houses were built in the boom

seventy years ago, and abandoned

almost immediately. Nobody

ever lived in them.

-I see. Why are you taking them

apart? Why not fix them up?

-They were pretty shitty houses

even when they were new.

But we can use the materials

that haven’t deteriorated too badly

to build better structures.

-Cool.

-C’mon, I’ll introduce you.

They lean their bikes against

a tall stack of lumber.

A woman directing the tile stackers

turns to meet them.

-Hi Shanice, how’s it going?

-Pretty good this morning,

I think we’ll knock off soon

before it gets much hotter.

Another week or so we should

have it done.

-Great. This is Mack, bicycle nomad.

I’m showing him around town.

Shanice pulls off her work glove

offers Mack a lightly calloused hand

with trimmed and painted nails.

-Nice to meet you, Mack,

what do think of our little town?

-I like what I see.

I like what I hear.

-uh, huh. Thinkin’ about stickin’

around or you just passing through?

If you feel like lending a hand,

we can always use more folks

recycling these old houses.

Job comes with a free Harmony hat.

-Yeah, I’m considering it.

Try it out for a bit.

‘specially if it comes with the hat.

-Good. If you decide to give it

a shot, Red can let me know.

Want to meet some of the folks?

-Sure, sounds good.