PARK: Plowing the Sand Garden

JUNE 20, 2009: The idea was to make sense of all the sand & gravel;
to give it some purpose by patterning it; clean it up, give it a
feeling of motion rather than leave it just lay there.

Delmar Finton was the first farmer to weigh in on the feasibility of
plowing a pattern into the sand. His equipment was too large he said
after looking at an image of a Zen sand garden. He’d hardly be
able to turn around.

Sam Wyler had the right sized equipment, an antique tractor and a two-
bottom plow. But he was worried about asbestos residue from the fire.
And he cautioned that the plow would not ‘turn’ the sand as it would
soil. This turning is what plowing is all about so there was some disdain, disappointment even, at the thought of pulling a plow without the pleasure
of seeing the soil (sand) turn.

Jim Childress voiced the same caution. The plow would not turn the sand–
which was not really a problem for this basic job of dragging lines into
the sand–though it seemed the sensitive thing to do to share in the dis-
appointment. Jim’s son Mark was the one who actually did the work. Took
a lot of skill with mixed success. Ends up the sand does turn a little and
reads out a little unevenly.

Planning experiment #2.