On Thursday, the windy, windy day, I encountered traffic on our gravel road while leaving our enclave. It was a bright blue truck I've seen out here before. Not on our road, but the other road that goes to the back entrance. I waited for him to pass, then pulled out behind him. I don't like to delay people who might be in more of a hurry.
We proceeded along the creek, Blue Truck going just a little faster than T-Hoe. We both got on the country blacktop road to town. Blue Truck got ahead of me a bit more. I could see him crossing the low water bridge, then going up over the hill. The road has several dips and hills after that. I thought nothing of it until I saw Blue Truck parked in the road a couple hills ahead. What in the Not-Heaven?
As I got closer, I saw that Blue Truck had its flashers flashing. The driver, a guy in his late 30s, had walked back behind it, in the oncoming lane, where a tree branch lay 3/4 of the way across the road. The branch was the thickness of a man's arm, with little branches branching off of it. It was obviously a dead limb that had been blown off the tree.
T-Hoe would have had no trouble going over that dead branch, at a slow speed, just like Blue Truck had no problem. However, cars coming up on it would be likely to swerve, or come to a sudden stop. Not good for other drivers who might be near them. In fact, a white sedan came around the curve as I was waiting a good distance back from Blue Truck. It stopped beside that truck.
Blue Truck Guy stomped on that dead branch, breaking it into smaller pieces, then heaving them off the side of the road into the ditch. Once the road was clear, he jogged back to his truck and got in. The whole process took about three minutes. If he hadn't done that, the limb would probably still be there until a county road crew discovered it and dealt with it.
It took a week for the county road crew to put blacktop over the concrete of the low water bridge, where water had washed away two previous layers of blacktop in the recent flood. It had been like driving T-Hoe up two steps 8 inches high. Too bad Hick and his old friend Buddy didn't have any spare blacktop...
That is so great that Blue Truck Guy could stop and de-limb the road. In Trinidad, there is a beach that only really has one way in and out after a certain point. Once, I was with my cousins and a tree was blocking the road, a bunch of folks got out to clear it! So kudos to the Blue Truck Guys all around, lol!
ReplyDeleteYes! They are gettin' it done!
DeleteYou are fortunate to have people like the guy in the blue truck who care about others and do something to help out.
ReplyDeleteYes. Out here in the middle of nowhere, people are like that. In town, not so much...
DeleteBlue Truck Guy is "good people". I do the same after a windy night when I'm walking to the shop for my daily paper, if there are small branches on the footpath I kick them aside so older people with walkers or other mobility devices don't get hooked up and maybe tumble.
ReplyDeleteYou are good people! The elderlies may never know it was you who made their way easier, but if they did, I'm sure they would applaud you for your efforts.
DeleteI am always grateful for people who clear limbs from roads. Once, on the interstate above Birmingham, the remnants of a hurricane blew trees all over the road. Every truck must have had a chainsaw because trucks and guys were all over the road for a couple of miles clearing the interstate. It was heartening to see these guys help us.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Hick and a couple of buddies used to do out here after an ice storm. They all had chainsaws and 4wd trucks, and cleared the way to town. Other guys joined them on the blacktop county road.. Some people are just natural born helpers!
DeleteMy sister used to work for a small weekly paper that had some unusual features. My favorite was her calling all the locals who enjoyed having their names in the paper. This particular "column" took up a good bit of space and let everyone know which families had company and who went to church and ate out. My sister and I share the gift of sarcasm, and it would sneak its way into her write up. To get to the point of what this has to do with your post, another feature she introduced was one where a picture and caption would appear with "Caught Doin' Good". Blue Truck Guy would have earned that honor from her!!
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! Those people probably never realized the message that was getting out. Blue Truck Guy definitely deserved recognition, but I doubt he would have wanted it.
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