The electric company didn't make it out till around midnight-I asked them to get everyone else turned on and leave my lines down so that we could finish the tree without further mishaps. It made for a chilly evening.
I dozed fitfully with Oliver. Around 1, the rest of the street got power restored, but I was too lazy to schlep down to Mom and Dad's, I just stayed burrowed in. I reckon Oliver and I will bunk down here tonight. Without a 4 inch layer of ice, the house cools off much quicker than without. Or maybe it's just really that much colder right now.
Another "winter blast" is headed our way tomorrow so now it's a race to get the tree down before it blows down.
All feelings of remorse I have for the venerable old tree's demise are gone. What a stinker it's been, and every neighbor who's property touches mine has said they are glad it's going. So apparently the old sycamore has been a cause for concern for some depending on which way the wind was blowing.
Something else happened too. The tree knocked down the power line, the neighbors came running and I walked out in full "Project Manager" mode. This is not easy to pull off in pink pj pants, pink pj tshirt and a long sleeved orange shirt hastily pulled over...and sandals. But. in true PM fashion, I through aside all thought about what I looked like, what I felt liked and just dealt with the issues.
Sol was mortified, but I walked out, apologized, slapped Sol on the back and laughed about it. "Sorry guys, but the tree has to come down and there is only way to do it-just do it."...and everyone laughed, agreed and said they were glad to see it go. I did critique myself a bit "I wish I had done it sooner, I didn't realize what a hazard it was when I bought the place."
Sol is still mortified, but getting his confidence back. This morning he told Daddy "this has never happened before," and Daddy and I agreed that that's how you learn.
What really shook me up was how ugly it could have gotten. Sol is from Guatemala, he's not illegal, but he has brown skin and a Spanish accent. I was able to diffuse it simply by walking out and claiming my tree and my carnage-it was ME they would have to deal with, not Sol. So, I pulled a face out of the bag that no one in these parts had ever seen before.
I wonder, do people KNOW when they are seeing someone else, a different mask, or do they just react and not think about it? What an epiphany, that, I could be that person, HERE. I never thought that face would play out here-so that tree falling down might have been a great cosmic nudge. And for that, I'd like to say Thank You.
5 comments:
as a professional PM I can completely relate to what you are saying. You never know what people will react to.
It really felt ugly to me. Sol is short, not white, fairly young and male. There are a lot of older, male, white men in my neigbhorhood. These are not bad people for the most part, but the potential was there for all kinds of ugliness. My goodness, he's their NEIGHBOR, with one of the neatest houses on the block, but for a minute, that could have been forgotten in testosterone.
One of the busybodies kept asking Sol "who is going to pay for this?" and I finally said "Not you, so don't worry about it any more. It's MY tree and you weren't hurt a bit." -he lives several houses down from me.
Later he came by my parents house and offered to hook up their fridge to his generator, which was really a nice thing to do.
I really do think he was just "funnin" Sol, but he's not too old to use some common sense and courtesy. I was visiting with another neigbhor (and mr. busybody's buddy) who said "Harvey is worried about who is going to pay ..." and I cut him off and said "Harvey needs to mind his own damn business and quit worrying about things-HE's not going to pay for anything."
What is it Michele called people like that-Yentas??
Then, for good measure and because I was now fully dressed, I talked with this fellow for several minutes about a potential job (for him) and some other local business items.
Oklahoma is soooooo backward when it comes to women, it's like a third world country.
there are lots of places still backward when it comes to women!
I had no idea it could get so cold and icy in OK. Wow, what an adventure you've been having this winter. And sometimes I think people just need to be put in their place. We've all got a little bit of bully inside of us and we'll abuse the bully power until someone stands up to us and says stop so yippee to you for kicking from tree and neighbor behind : ) And yes, they are Yentas!
It's odd that I rarely stand up for myself, but let someone else be bullied and I'm right there.
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