Stone labyrinth: I miss the people

I miss the people.

Sure, there was the excitement of leaving home and traveling somewhere unfamiliar for a project. The novelty of working at a swanky resort. The thrill of being part of an epic build. But mostly I miss rolling heavy rocks in the Tennessee mud with ten other people.

I miss being too tired to talk much first thing in the morning, standing shoulder to shoulder with three other people in a tiny kitchen, all of us trying to make coffee at the same time with different contraptions. I miss doing my work while ten other people do their work until somehow it becomes our work. I miss falling asleep in my room, the knock and roll of pool balls and muffled voices in the common area right outside my door. I miss walking up that steep fucking hill at the end of a long day. I miss the communal dinners. And the conversations I was mostly either too tired or just feeling too quiet to engage in. I miss the long slow twisty-turny morning drive into the job site, low fog in the narrow valleys, the sun just coming up over the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.

I miss the people.

When I left Maine and headed south to Tennessee, I expected to get along with everyone. I didn’t expect to feel a hole when it was over.

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This project was designed and led by the amazing Thea Alvin. Check out her work and her thoughts on the labyrinth here.

Read some more thoughts I had about this experience here.