Tedious Operation

 

5/24/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Heading out into the neighborhood to make some composition studies, I passed this excavator, but it was on its lunch break, so I kept going. I wanted to see it in action! By the time I returned, it was back at work, digging out soil next to the house. Apparently there wasn’t enough room to park the dump truck nearby. The excavator was scooping out dirt and releasing it into a small, motorized container that looked like a wheel barrow – except the operator was standing up in back of it. When it was full, the little machine would move the dirt over to the dump truck parked on the street. It looked like a tedious operation that could have gone a lot more efficiently if the dirt could have been dumped directly into the hauler.

Not that I cared about efficiency. The excavator moved quickly, but its motions were rhythmic and repetitive. I would draw a bit, then wait for it to return to the same position to draw a bit more. It was the most heavy-equipment action I’ve had in a long time!