A Job Well Done

This is a tale of two jobs accomplished in the short course of an hour with one miraculous machine and a very competent operator.  The completion of both jobs probably saved Jim and me from an early grave.

The first was the trimming of cedar tree branches growing over our roof.  The glorious cedars living behind our home have gotten too zealous in their reach toward the east to greet the rising sun. Extending their boughs at least six feet into the area above our roof, while the branches were not touching our house, they did have the potential for causing damage during a windy winter storm. What to do?

Reaching from the roof to trim them was definitely not an option.  We don't go up on the roof under any circumstance at our age.  No ladder could safely reach sixty feet into the air.  Trimming from the ground with a pole trimmer posed the danger of one of us being impaled by a branch.  It seemed like an impossible task!

Luckily, there are companies that have both the equipment and talent to do this with the help of a lift. That, and a couple of different types of chain saws, made this a twenty minute job that was accomplished safely.  Plus the limbs were quickly disposed of by a team of workers feeding a chipper.

After a few additional moments, the lift was repositioned to the front of our house when the crew learned of our additional dilemma-the need to reach the top of a thirty foot flag pole to restring it in order to fly a flag.  In quick order, the young man operating the lift was able to determine the empty pulley at the top of the flag pole was still functional.  He sprayed the pulley with some oil to make it work better, before treading a loop of cord through it that we provided.  Securing this cord safely at the bottom, we now had the ability to install a proper flag rope with hooks for a flag.

The tree trimming company did not have to do this, but they did while the equipment was on site.  A team of young men helped two old people with a task they had worried over for eighteen months, and without asking for an additional dime.  Nevertheless, a tip was in order.  We were very happy with the entire experience.

A couple of days later, we pulled the flag rope through the pulley using the cord, fastened the flag on its hooks, and proudly raised our stars and strips.  With a light positioned to illuminate the flag at night, we had completed our quest to utilize the massive thirty foot pole in front of our house for what it was intended to be used for-a flag pole.

In the process, we gained the pleasure of meeting a very nice team of young men who did both jobs superbly.  We are grateful for both jobs, and for them.