this is a bond-beam. the rod sticking out of it, near the plastic, is the anchor 5/8's inch thread rod for anchoring the beams that will lay on it (the can is for protecting the plastic from the rod).
having just visited
Short Mountain Sanctuary for the beltane festival, i've got some new thoughts on the whole sexuality Thing, and why the queers have the right of it.
most of all, i've been left with the feeling that it's our natural born right as humans to live in a sex-positive society - where it is a good and right and joyful thing to be attracted to whomever you find yourself attracted, gender-be-damned. this, astonishingly, is true at the Sanctuary - with the understood caveat that one must be respectful if the attraction is not shared - but essentially the fundamental question is - Can You Turn him/her/wtvr On?
and if you can, you're golden.
the other aspect of this sex-positivity is that it's collectively understood by friends and partners, that if you're attracted to someone, there's nothing wrong with that - it can be acted upon or not as appropriate, but it's no reason for drama and suspicion and bullshit. everyone want affection and attention. everyone wants someone, sometimes, and sometimes they want someone else. this is normal.
another amazing aspect of queer-dom is that it's a contiguous spectrum. which really means that there is always the possibility of Anyone being attracted to Anyone, again, gender-be-damned. how is this radical? have you ever been to a straight bar? for men, every woman is a potential Target, while every man is an automatic adversary. half the population is automatically eliminated, reduced essentially to sub-human status, while the other half is focused on far too intensely.
so to be in an environment where whomever you run into, start talking to, could be a potential partner is a total revelation - no longer are your filters switching on (target) - off (adversary), etc, you're perpetually open.
now i've come to my idea which i suspect may not be completely original, but is certainly uncomfortable. i've been wondering if part of this sex-positive culture that the queer and fairie community has developed isn't effectively because of their lack of equal marriage rights!? another totally uncomfortable and exploitative aspect of the straight world is that everyone is ultimately angling toward or against a legal relationship of part-ownership, which unavoidably causes jealousy and possession bullshit. how can it not distort natural human relations?