Thursday, October 02, 2008

Let The Sunshine In!

A couple of weeks ago - almost three weeks ago - I called our compound maintenance and asked for pest control to come and spray the mealy bugs [which we cannot seem to kill no matter what we do] and to have gardening services come to trim the banyan tree in the front yard - but, more specifically - to get rid of the branch that had broken off and was resting precociously on the roof. The appointment was set for pest control to come the next day - twice [don't ask - who knows why? - but they came twice for the same problem] - and I was told that someone would call me about removing the dead branch and trimming the tree. I let it slide when no one called me back. It was, after all, Ramadan, and things get just a bit skewed in this part of the world during that whole month-long time frame. Maintenance has been very good about taking care of whatever our needs might be, even if those needs aren't attended to instantly, so I didn't fret about the fact that gardening hadn't called to come see my "tree problem."

Monday morning I was outside in the back yard when the Kids, who were inside, starting going nuts - barking and doing the "circle thi
ng" back and forth from the front door to the back - the customary warning that I am given anytime a stranger is within a five kilometer radius of the house. I opened the side gate and peeked out - there was no one there. I dismissed it, figuring it was the paper guy just delivering the morning paper. A minute or two later the Kids repeated their ballistic behavior and I went out front to see what was causing the ruckus. Was one of the stray kittens out there? Something... It was the tree guys - who had shown up and were setting up their ladder at the far end of the house - which is why I didn't see them when I had peeked out the gate just a few minutes earlier. So much for getting that telephone call to schedule their coming. Nope. They appeared with no warning or appointment. No problem. I pointed out the branch that needed removing and told them it would be good if they could trim the whole tree back some. The one of the three that understood what I was saying responded with the obligatory, "Yes Madam." I didn't take a picture of the tree before it was trimmed. I wish I had, though. And, especially the branch that was on the roof - it wasn't a branch - it was an entire tree limb!

Here is a picture of the tree taken
in July of last year - before we moved into the house:

I asked the young men - the "little" workers - if it would be okay if I took a picture of them on Monday morning. All three happily agreed to be photographed, and gathered together to get their picture taken. They were smiling! I will print off three copies of the photo and make sure that I track them down so that they can each have a copy. [I did this for all of the men who worked on our house renovations before we moved in. I cannot relay to you their joy in just having a picture taken of themselves "working." Such a miniscule gesture which brought a great deal of happiness to a bunch of otherwise fairly miserable lives...]

I now have HALF of the banyan tree on the left side [or right, if you are facing the house] of our yard - and it is amazing how much sunlight is now allowed to stream in through the windows! Absolutely amazing!!! [If I don't get a houseboy pretty darn quickly - no sunlight is going to be streaming through my windows, but it won't be because the tree guys didn't do their job...] The "little" workers trimmed the tree on the right side, as well, and now my patio has more sun than ever. The "little" guys worked for a good part of the day - arriving at 6:45 in the morning and not leaving until after two o'clock. And, they worked hard. They use NO electric or gas powered tools - and no cherry picker apparatus to hoist them up, either - just an old fashioned rickety ladder - a very tall one! - to get to all those stray branches. I need to take a picture of the two banyan trees now that are half the size they were before the tree cutting "little" workers showed up. The guys did a fantastic job, trimmed the two trees to as round of shape as possible and cleaned up every single branch and leaf before they left. I must remember to call maintenance to file a "compliment." These three men deserve it!

The pile of limbs, branches and leaves left on the side of the road during the "trimming" of the first tree:

I'll try to update this with a photo of what the trees look like, now...

3 comments:

  1. I too always call the bosses of people who do a good job.....people are always complaining, so I know it makes their day when they get a compliment........

    Here is an article I thought you may like:

    http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/510101

    Gill

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too always call the bosses of people who do a good job.....people are always complaining, so I know it makes their day when they get a compliment........

    Here is an article I thought you may like:

    http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/510101

    Gill

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll call on Sunday to compliment - whether the tree cutters will ever know - I doubt it...

    Good article, Gill. Thanks for the link. This line, "When some girls go out they (look) like prostitutes who invite people to carry out lewd acts" - gimme a friggin' break! Invite people to carry out lewd acts?!? GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!

    ReplyDelete

 
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