linda thinks that black soil is coal ash. i don't know, but i do know that hill is styrofoam. i have a little ache in my knuckle and forefinger that could be arthritis, but in the shower i remembered when i was in miami working as a night x-ray film librarian and i had a hard lump on my right wrist and the doctors gathered around me with somber expressions and said i think we'll have to amputate and then laughed and said nah, just kidding. it was a calcium bump from stress when i caught a motorcycle falling. so it could be like that, or arthritis. mike has arthritis and his hands look like gnarled tree roots and he's calm about it and still walks his dog multiple times a day, so either way i reckon i'll be ok.