The second Inverary dry stone wall workshop was run on the July 1st Dominion Day weekend. It was far too hot and humid to be working. It was incredibly sticky both days and blistering hot, especially when you weren't in the shade. We should have all gone down to the beach. We should have put our feet up and drunk lemonade. But no, we struggled through the entire day pushing rocks around in the hot sun.
It is amazing what pushes people to push rocks! Had it been just me I probably would have quit. But there they were, ten people all eager to work hard and make something beautiful and lasting. No one was complaining. No one was grumbling about the work conditions or dragging other people down moaning about not getting enough breaks.
These were people who didn't want to go home until they had got the full experience of walling without mortar. They were enthusiastic and unstoppable.
I think I would have hired any one of them. And say if I did, in this case because it was so hot, instead of having them work, I would have told them to go home.
That's the problem with running workshops where people pay to work. You can't fire them or give them the weekend off.
