Alright folks, let's talk about that Aztec Circle project. I got this wild idea after seeing a picture online, figured I'd try building one in my own backyard. Ancient wisdom in the suburbs, right?
Starting Out Blind
First off, had no clue what I was doing. Just knew those Aztecs built stone circles for calendars and stuff. Grabbed a shovel and walked to the emptiest part of the yard. Looked down. Dirt. Okay, maybe too much dirt. Needed a plan.
Gathering Stuff Like a Squirrel
Didn't wanna buy anything fancy. Rummaged around:
- Old bricks left over from some patio thing years ago.
- A bag of pebbles that was just sitting under my deck.
- My kid's long jump rope to make a circle shape.
- A tape measure (found it in the junk drawer after ten minutes).
- Sand from the sandbox (don't worry, the kid's in college now).
- A big stick.
Making a Big Round Mark
Tied one end of the jump rope to the big stick. Jammed that stick deep into the dirt where I wanted the center. Pulled the rope tight and walked a big circle, scratching a line in the dirt with my heel. Kinda looked like a lopsided balloon animal at first. Took a few tries to get a decent circle.
Playing in the Dirt Like a Kid
Started digging a shallow trench along that scratched line. Maybe an inch deep? Just enough to set the bricks in place. Put bricks all around the edge of the trench. First layer looked super wobbly and uneven. Some bricks stuck up, some sank down. Looked terrible.
Pulled 'em all out. Dumped some sand into the bottom of the trench to make a level bed. Patience isn't my strong suit, but sand helped. Started putting bricks back one by one, pressing them down into the sand, checking with a little level app on my phone.
Stacking and Sweating
Once the base circle felt solid, started stacking a second layer. Trickier. Had to stagger the bricks so the cracks from below were covered. Found some flatter bricks, used pebbles here and there to fill weird gaps. Like playing Tetris but heavier and covered in dirt. My back started complaining.
Filling the Gaps
Then came the messy part: filling the cracks. Mixed the sand with water to make thick mud slop. Used an old trowel to force that goopy mud into every little space between the bricks. Got it absolutely everywhere – hands, jeans, shoes. Totally underestimated the splash factor. Took ages, and I messed up the mix a couple times – too dry and it just crumbled, too wet and it slid out like soup.
The Grand Finale (Kinda)
Cleaned the bricks off with a stiff brush. Stepped back. It was definitely… a circle. An uneven, not-quite-round brick circle sitting in my yard. Didn't look like a glorious ancient monument. More like an artsy fire pit without the fire. But hey, I built it myself, with leftover junk.
Felt pretty chuffed just seeing it done. Sat on a bucket just staring at it. The Aztecs probably had way bigger stones and smarter people, but I got a basic stone circle built. And my back got a serious workout.
