Installation of the work Lap Lane required me, and Tony the guy helping me, to be outside on site from early morning till late evening. This was hard physical yakka punctuated by encounters with the daily local traffic. Being there in one spot on consecutive days meant that routines were established and familiarity grew.
One morning around 10 am I saw a horse on the other side of the road with relaxed long neck and an old guy equally relaxed in the saddle. I watched them cross the road and head up the main street. In my time I have seen a lot of evidence of horse friendly paraphilania in country towns, but I could not recall the last time I had seen someone ride into town. Finally, one morning, I called out and the man rode over. We talked about his connection to Kandos and he introduced me to his horse Matilda a sweet mare that in her time had not been so sweet.
On another occasion, as I was working away, I became aware of a voice saying, “It is good to see a woman working so hard.” In front of me was a lady who lived across the road. She had been watching the development of the work. We talked about the past and how hard she had worked in her life. She pointed out where she lived. I felt touched by this that she let me see where she was watching from.
Too early in the morning people would make their way to the café down the track only to find that it was not yet open. This café seemed to have a gravitational pull that was not so much about place as about the people who ran the café. “Salt of the earth” was the term Tony and I resorted to using to describe Sue and Dave. These two would come and check on us at regular intervals to offer ice-cold bottles of water in the heat and knowledge of local resources whenever we hit a snag.