The Pile

11 August 2009- I have a mystery on my hands. As of this writing, I have not reached the conclusion, so I don't know what the outcome will truly be. Maybe an anticlimax. Just something which has stirred suspicions on my part. I'm not a person who gets easily spooked. I have a history of growing up in a rough neighborhood just south of an Army base during Viet Nam, with drug dealers, railroad tracks and empty fields nearby. One of my teacher's husbands was convicted as a serial killer (they lived one block away). Been a nurse for over 15 years, including ER and hospice care. I do believe in spirits and have encountered a few, including living in an old Nazi barracks in Germany some time back.

Some of this recounting is reconstructed from writings over the past few months. Other parts are from my blog over the last 10 days or so, with original dates posted here.

About three months ago, I bought a house. It's older, built in the 60's. Rather solid but does need work, mostly esthetics. I've never been afraid of hard work. Plus, I got a great price on the house, which is large for me and has a huge back yard for anything in city limits.

One of the biggest parts of the work is the back yard. When I moved in, there were depressions and holes of varying sizes from various sources, natural and otherwise. There were piles of firewood, bricks and cinder blocks scattered in different areas of the yard.

However, the absolute biggest part of the whole work process was what I quickly nicknamed "The Pile". The Pile is a mound which I estimate at 6 feet high, 15 feet wide and up to 20 feet deep and stands at the back of the property. On consideration, I now think that this may be one of the things which turned away other buyers who had looked at the house before me.

When I first looked at the house and when I moved in, The Pile didn't seem too intimidating. Much of it seemed to be old bamboo, which covered the mound. This came from a stand of running bamboo in the back of the yard. Other pieces of garbage were visible but not a lot.

The first few weeks in the house, I somewhat ignored it. Too many other things to handle in getting the house livable. One day, I finally decided to cut bamboo which was running rampant. Along the way, I decided I would start getting rid of the bamboo in The Pile, since I was cutting and banding bamboo, any way. Once I removed a large amount of dead bamboo from the surface, I saw some of what I was up against.

The reality of The Pile was that it was a mound of dirt, bamboo, tree branches and garbage. It still didn't look all that bad, as it seemed to be mostly dirt which would come in handy for filling in the holes, pits and depressions in the yard. However, I did not have the tools required at the time, as I had just moved from living in apartments for many years. Between that and knowing it would require much more work, I let it remain for a while longer.

I could not ignore it for too long, as I saw it now as an eyesore, an irritation and possible heath hazard with the possibility of insect and rodent infestation. I have a six year old daughter whom I was having trouble keeping away from the area, so I decided it was time to deal with this monstrosity. If I had the money, it would be easiest to have a backhoe and dump truck remove it. I don't have the money for that and besides, it's pretty good exercise.

01 Aug 2009- In what work I have done on The Pile before now, I had been filtering the dirt as it went in the wheelbarrow. I had built a screen from old wood and some cage wire stretched across and nailed in place. Worked well but there's just too much dirt to filter it all.

Today, I changed tactics. I am using the dirt to fill in the holes in the yard. Most of the stuff in the dirt will decompose over time and I really only need rake the first couple of inches of soil clean after moving it. To filter all of it would take months of work.

Not getting a whole lot done today. My daughter is here and keeps getting close to where I'm working. I'm afraid I may turn around and hit her with the shovel or accidentally dump a load of dirt on her head. No small amount of bugs around The Pile, so we both have massive amounts of bug spray on.

Just taking a break right now.

01 Aug 2009 (later)- This is getting strange.

Along the way, I have found glass bottles, cans, can tabs, bricks, boards, branches, old electronics and other stuff. I'm just tossing the garbage into another pile to dispose of once I'm done taking down the main mound. Putting the wood pieces in a separate pile which can be used in the fireplace this winter.

However, once I got past the top layer of dirt, I started finding some odd things. There are items which have been placed there for the intent of keeping The Pile from eroding. Old tar shingles. Large boards from furniture, particle boards. The final straw in this suspicion came when I found a tarp spread out in such a way as the protect The Pile from erosion, then covered with dirt and bamboo!

I also found a partial roll of tar paper for roofing and a large roll of heavy plastic sheeting, both in great condition. Doesn't make sense because the shed was never roofed or waterproofed, just left exposed!

I'm getting an odd feeling about this when I put what's in The Pile together with things I've heard from neighbors about the people who used to live here. From them, I've heard that they burned things in the fireplace which smelled so bad it stank up the whole neighborhood. Yet I am finding very large pieces of wood in the mound and there is a pile of firewood on a few yards away.

Another things has occurred to me. Why is all this trash here in the first place? There is garbage pickup. Besides, the dump is only 3-4 miles away and the husband/father who lived here drove an 18 wheeler, which he parked out front. The neighbors have told me he kept it running all night long. Only one kind of truck you run all night- a refrigerated truck.

Could be he didn't want to get the inside dirty but cleaning it out would take less effort than layering this stuff and digging up dirt to lay on top of each layer.

Seems they dug up bamboo rhizomes (roots) and placed them in The Pile, then covered them with dirt. Which runs the risk of bamboo growing on top of The Pile!

Maybe I'm overly suspicious or being dramatic. However, I am not throwing anything away any more. I am placing everything in separate piles and touching nothing except with heavy leather gloves on until I reach the bottom of this mound. Maybe I'll find nothing, then I'll throw it all away.

The Pile has always been an oddity to me. I had thought at first it may have dated to before garbage collection in the area, which only started six years ago. The next door neighbor told me otherwise, that The Pile was started more recently. The further I dig into it, the more I have strange feelings about it.

In the end, I guess I moved about one ton of material today. I'll keep writing as I take this thing down.

02 Aug 2009- Worked on The Pile some this morning. My daughter was here and I couldn't neglect her. Besides, it gets rather hot working on this thing in the daytime. This is Albuquerque and high desert, after all.

I've pulled three of four visible sheets of corrugated metal out of The Pile so far. Spotted a wooden beam at the back which is about 6"x8"x10'. Can't wait to move that!

There are branches which hang down over The Pile. Thought of cutting them but they offer some shade while working in the daytime, making it a little more tolerable.

Going is somewhat slow because bamboo has been cut and layered with dirt multiple times over years. Some of it has decayed and the fibers form mattes which have to be raked out. Seems like the further down I go, the more decomposed it is, so maybe as I get lower, it will be completely decomposed and things will be easier to move.

Still dodging hitting my daughter with the shovel or dumping dirt on her head. It's enough of a challenge just keeping bug spray on her!

At some points, I have to stand on top of The Pile to dig. Then there are times I feel a vibration under my feet, caused by hollow spaces under me. That's when I find large boards or sheets of corrugated metal. Still, it's rather unnerving to have the ground shake under you under those conditions. I never work on this thing without my cell phone in my pocket, just for safety.

Something I didn't mention before is that my wheelbarrow had a flat tire. So, for two days I've been tossing each shovel of dirt a distance of 10-15 feet or carrying each shovel to the corner of the yard to fill in the pit there. Got a can of tire sealant and hope it works for this. Until now, it's been quite a workout!

Got the tarp removed this morning but then found construction netting around one side. Very strange finding all these things which have the obvious purpose of maintaining the structure of The Pile. Why would anyone do that?

03 Aug 2009- Got the construction netting removed this morning.

Seems like my hopes were correct and the dirt which has filtered through the bamboo and branches is easier to dig out from below than above. It has been a process of digging loose dirt, pulling out large branches and bamboo, raking fibers and garbage out, then doing the process over again. Maybe digging from below will loosen up the layers of large pieces, so I can just pull all of them out. I am basically undermining The Pile, in the literal sense of the word.

Broke through the biggest layer today. Think I have this thing beaten! It's down to around three feet tall now.

The tire sealant worked, so I've been able to truck the dirt across the yard and fill in various holes and depressions all over the yard, instead of just close by.

04 Aug 2009- Another layer. I had thought breaking through the last layer was a turning point in taking this thing down but I was wrong.

This layer is even tougher than the last. At least a foot of compressed bamboo and branches, laid in a criss-cross pattern and covered with dirt. It also had a lot of material covering it which was obviously meant to protect it and maintain the integrity of The Pile. Shingles, plastic bags, boards and furniture panels. It did such a good job that some of the bamboo was still green! This has been here for years and bamboo I cut two weeks ago and left in the open is completely brown!

I also found a piece of corrugated metal laid sideways as a containment barrier.

Now I am finding entire logs of wood.

The creepiest thing is that today I found a nitrile glove and one new or nearly new, expensive sneaker (Lugz) almost next to each other.

The good part is that it is down to about 2 feet tall now. I can see my back fence from the house!

10 Aug 2009- Something I forgot to write about. Last time I was working on The Pile, I had my camera in my pocket. Been taking pictures at various points. It stopped working. Didn't drop it, didn't bang it, didn't get it dirty. Just started popping up with an error code when I booted it. Stayed that way for days. Couldn't find the receipt to return it. Yesterday morning, I held down a bunch of buttons on the back while booting it up and managed to find the combination which reset the camera. Glad it's working again. Just odd that it stopped working for no reason. (And yes, I tried changing batteries, all that. It was stating a lens error but the lens was operating.)

The majority of The Pile is now at ground level. Nothing too strange since the glove and shoe. That is a relative statement, of course. Bags of grass clippings, more logs, bamboo, branches, broken glass and garbage, bricks, cinder blocks, large rocks, auto parts, lawn mower parts and such.

However, I did find calichi clay today at ground level. There is calichi below the ground here, as I found while digging the compost pit but it's about three feet below ground level. There is also another, smaller pile a few feet away from the big one, which I had thought was sand or silt. Turns out it's all calichi, too (now hardened). All this indicates the ground has been turned at some point. I'm not sure where yet. Haven't found a definite place, aside from the pit where bamboo was dug out. That's some distance away, though. Why would someone pile the clay in one spot instead of on The Pile with the other dirt and the bamboo?

These were some freaky people who lived here before me.

The lower levels are more preserved than the higher levels, due to all the things which have been put in place to keep moisture from reaching it. This not only maintained the integrity of the mound but almost mummified everything within the mound.

I've told the ex about all this. She says if I don't find anything at ground level I should dig down a few feet. Said if I don't do it, she'll come over, grab my shovel and do it herself. (Hmm.. Could save me some work..) Taking the calichi into account, I think she may be right and I'll do exactly that.

The Pile is something more than it appears. Without some cause, people do not pile up wood which can be burned in the fireplace, garbage and bamboo, then layer it with dirt, wood, tarps, plastic bags and corrugated steel panels to keep that pile intact. Not when there are options such as garbage pickup or a nearby dump to take it to. This thing has some kind of purpose to it which is not yet visible. Maybe only the construct of an unbalanced mind but I'm reserving judgment until it's completely gone and maybe a few feet beyond that, if necessary.

I looked up the weight of dirt. While there has been a lot of bamboo, there has also been a lot of metal, glass, bricks and cinder blocks in The Pile. I estimate the entire weight of The Pile to originally have been between five and six tons. I have now moved all but the last ton of material.

The good part to all this is that the ground in the yard is now almost completely level! You can walk around the yard without tripping or falling in a hole. I can also run the lawnmower across it without extreme danger. Of course, there's no grass yet where the dirt has been filled in but I'll take care of that next spring. The loose dirt needs to settle, any way. I'm helping that along by watering it with gray water.

I think I'll have the rest of The Pile down sometime tomorrow morning! Yay!

12 Aug 2009- Found another shoe in The Pile today. Less expensive brand but once again almost new. This one was in a 30 gal trash bag. The bag was intact but there was nothing else in the bag. Just the shoe. I placed the shoe back in the bag and laid it aside.

Funny, when I started on this, I thought it would take 2-3 days of work and the whole thing would be history. That was 12 days ago. But one more day of work and it will all be at ground level.

14 Aug 2009- So, I finally reached complete ground level. There, I was met with buried hay mixed with bamboo. Remember the corrugated metal as a containment device? Turns out it's laid lengthwise in a hole which was dug out, each end sticking up and covered with ashes.

I am not sure what kind of ashes these are. They're very fine. I would think fireplace ashes but I've found pieces of branches too large for the fireplace. It appears something was burned here, right where the metal is placed, underneath the trees.

I also found stumps of small trees which were cut down for The Pile to exist.

Any way, I got the corrugated metal out of the hole and it was Insect Central! Spiders, beetles, sow bugs, worms, snails, centipedes.. Thousands of bugs, so many the ground itself seemed to be moving as soon as I picked the piece up.

I backed off and I'm letting it go for the night and allow the bugs to dissipate a bit.

Managed to get the wooden beam moved today. It was a full size railroad tie, so it measures 9"x 7" x 8.5', so my guess wasn't far off. Probably about 300 lbs.

Still digging up hay and bamboo. Down to about 18" below ground level.

16 Aug 2009- Got down to the absolute bottom of the pit below The Pile today, at around 4' below ground level. Lots of ashes and even partially burned clothing but nothing more suspicious than that.

Was happy to have reached the bottom and was getting ready to start filling it in. Then I looked down next to my foot beside the pile of ashes I had dug up. Next to my foot were two partial bones.

They were long bones which had been cut, possibly animal rib bones. I could not positively tell. I called the police.

The deputy from the Sheriff's dept took the bones to submit to the medical examiner's office. Of course, I was instructed to leave the are alone until I get some word back.

Probably nothing but I figured it best to have it checked out.

16 Aug 2009- Cleared! Got an email from the Sheriff's dept. The bones turned out to be animal rib bones. Even the ME could not tell by simple examination, they had to analyze them to know for sure. So, I don't feel bad for not being able to tell.

Happy that my back yard is not a crime scene. Just some f'ing weird people who lived here before me.

Now, I can fill in the hole, get rid of all this crap and get my yard in order!

At least my life is rarely boring.