Village Work - Canal Slogging

Not fully recovered from the bamboo cutting, I joined the rest of my village in the annual canal cleaning at a much too early hour this morning. Armed with shovels and pitchforks, we plunged into the canal and scooped slime and sludge from the rocks. We usually do this on Mother's Day but because of the political changes, this event was rescheduled. Of course, in the middle of winter there isn't much grass clogging the canal so we mostly removed trash and sludge and stirred up the water into a muddy mess. Although it is work, people are cheerful and talkative and it is almost festive. Who knew being wet, muddy and cold could be this much fun?

All the farmers appeared, of course, but only half of the other households were represented. The village will be paid by the town for our efforts, adding to our village coffers and benefiting all. Those who were absent were duly noted by the supervising leader. They will be fined for their non-participation. The women tend to work much harder and longer and we continued to labor after the men had gone home, cleaning the drainage canals that lead into the main canal - after all, that sludge will eventually end up in the canal and need to be cleaned. Nip it in the bud, we figured, seeing as it is easier to clean the flat concrete-lined canals than the round stones that make up the bed of the big canal.

Between the bamboo cutting and the canal digging and my stupid sod digging, most every part of my body aches. It is a cold miserable overcast day and I am tempted to pour myself a glass of sake and watch movies.