A Standard Above the Trees

A bad tooth had kept me up all night. I wasn’t too concerned with the lack of sleep, because apart from the occasional lifting, bending and writing, my work didn’t require a whole lot of physical effort. Despite sleep, I knew I could keep my clients happy and engaged.

I was a caretaker for the mentally-challenged, and I took a lot of pride in my work. The rewards far outweighed the turmoils; a laugh, grin, or look of welcoming appreciation was more than enough to keep me highly satisfied in the work I’d decided to do.

Naturally, when I’d started out, I was nervous and not sure what to expect, but fear has always been a bit of a motivator to me. In my experience, rarely did confronting uncertainty or fear end with regret, but rather a feeling of accomplishment and pride.

The day started out like any other. We welcomed our clients into the day-center, taking their coats to hang and lunches to place in the refrigerator, and then we’d either start a puzzle or throw a movie on. More often than not, Barney the dinosaur would be belting out tunes and exploring the fascinating world of imagination by noon, and everyone would be content to start it again once the credits rolled.

On this day, the lack of sleep began catching up, and whilst I sat along with them in the couch, I could feel myself nodding off.

Before I realized it, I had fallen asleep and my co-worker stirred me. “Are you sleeping?”

“No,” I lied. “No no- just resting my eyes. I didn’t sleep last night-“

“The office will have to hear about this. There’s no sleeping at this job, you understand.”

“Please understand- my tooth kept me up all night. I’ve got a dentist appointment set for 4 o’clock today. It won’t happen again!”

I could tell she had made up her mind, and before long I received the call that my presence was required in the office at my earliest convenience. Before my shift even ended, they’d sent a stand-in so I could make haste with meeting my supervisor for a discussion.

“This is my first infracfion,” I thought. “I’ve never been late- I’ve rarely called in sick- it’s going to be fine.”

They were fairly straight-forward and blunt with the news. I was to turn my keys in and I would no longer be working for them.

I was stunned as I walked out to my car. I sat in the driver’s seat and, with the lack of sleep and the thought of never seeing the clients I’d grown so close to in the past two years, I began to cry. It had all been stripped away in a moment’s notice.

All I could really think about was the fact they wouldn’t let me say ‘goodbye’ to my clients. I couldn’t help but think about how they’d arrive the following day I wouldn’t be there to greet them, and they would wonder why. If they were anything like me- as I suspected a few of them to be- they might even blame themselves or think I’d left because I didn’t care about them, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I must’ve sat in the parking lot for twenty minutes getting myself together; but I managed to shake it off and knew I’d also need to find employment. Rent and bills were approaching, and they couldn’t be paid with good will or wishful-thinking.

Spring was just dawning, and I’d remembered a local arborist had let us pick some wood up from his yard for our wood-burning stove- the only source of heat for my dwellings at the time.

It had been a while since I’d had a job outdoors, and I thought the sun and exercise could do me some good, so I inquired to the same man about any potential jobs.

As fortune would have it, he was losing a ground man that had decided to move up to Utah and needed a replacement. He’d be in touch.

I continued my search for gainful employment, but alas, he texted me on a Friday- the end of the very week I’d reached out- and said, “Meet me at this address; wear boots.”

It wasn’t so much a job interview as it was, ‘Let’s see how you can work.’

So, as Friday came along, I hurried to be early and, before long, another ground man had arrived followed by the owner and arborist himself; Josh.

Josh and I shook hands, made brief introductions, and then we went to work. It was all really quite self-explanitory. He ascended a tree with a harness and ropes and began artfully making cuts here and there. As the branches fell and it was safe to do so, those of us on the ground would retrieve them and place them either in or nearby the chipper that was connected to the back of a large dump-truck which sat out front of the residence.

When Josh was finishing pruning the tree, he descended and we’d go to work with rakes and trash cans to pick up the smaller twigs and leaves that had littered the yard. Once spotless and looking quite nearer than when we’d arrived, the chipper would start and they began feeding the debris into it and it would, in turn, shoot the wood chips into the back of the truck. We called it good after cleaning up around the chipper and moved on to the next residence.

The work was steady and physically demanding; especially when the branches falling to the ground grew in size and weight, but the job was pretty consistently the same.

Josh had his reservations about me, but I was quick to learn that, rather than retrieve one branch at a time to take to the chipper, I could save time by stacking them nearby and grabbing a bundle before moving them. Throughout the spring and summer, my strength and wisdom grew, and I was determined to be his best and hardest worker. On the days I felt weak, I’d push myself harder, and on the days I felt strong, I’d help my coworkers with their bundles. I’d rake quickly and efficiently, and I wouldn’t slow my pace until the day was done and I could relax.

Josh took a great risk hiring me, because I’d never worked in that field. I’d never operated a chipper nor even seen; close-up; an arborist at work. He took a chance on me, and it changed my whole life. Where once I’d imbibed one alcohol during the week, I’d cut it out and began living healthier and hydrated.

And there were little aspects of the job that taught me lessons I could apply in my everyday life, which in turn, gave me a confidence I’d never experienced before. As my confidence grew, so did my determination to advance in the field. I began asking questions about running a saw and how to drive the dump truck. And, again, my confidence grew.

Confidence is good. It’s what puts your assured grip on the chainsaw, but remember your wrist rests upon the chain-brake. That’s the ace in the hole. Should the tip unexpectedly make contact and there’s a kick-back, that chain-brake is your saving grace. It’s what rests between you and a permanent Glasgow smile.

So march forward with gusto and determination, but mind your chain-brake. Indulge yourself- celebrate a bit- bask in the comfort of your aches. Be also determined in your well-being. Mind your manners and remember to sprinkle a bit of love in all pursuits.

It was difficult on some days to keep up, but no matter how small I felt sometimes, the work assured me in its own way that any effort was better than no effort at all.

Sometimes, there will be a large branch stacked on many that I attempt to pull away, and it’ll be stuck. I can twist, turn, pull, tug, etc etc etc, and it will go nowhere!!! My immediate reaction is to want to karate-chop it into little bits and bury it in the desert, but gathering about my patience, I go to see what it’s caught on, and it’s always the tiniest twig- no lie... the smallest part of the entire branch... lodged into the corner of a porch or otherwise snagged into another branch. It catches me by surprise every time! Here- I’m tugging at this 10 foot branch- putting all of my weight into it- and this teeny-tiny twig is what’s been giving me resistance!

Looking at the branch- whether cut down or still in the tree- it’s the very last piece one would give notice to.

Despite its size, it becomes the strongest appendage on the whole branch- defying me and all common laws of logic.

So, I suppose this is another way of saying- no matter how small you feel, or how insignificant you may consider yourself to be at times- you can make all the difference in the world by just hanging on.

During clean-up, I’d apply even the smallest aspects of the job to my daily life.

For instance, when cleaning up the clutter in your life, don’t go at everything all at once. You’ll become overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done. Instead, try to focus on the biggest items first. They stand out and they’re more often in the way of your access to the smaller things.

As you begin to clear away the big things, you’ll notice the job starts to get easier, because the mess you’re clearing away starts to get lighter and lighter. You begin to notice the smaller debris more easily, and by the end, you’re just sweeping through the rest of the clutter with barely any effort.

By now, you’ll start to see the job coming to completion, and you’ll get a boost of energy because you’re nearly there. This is when you mustn’t rush through in excitement. Be deliberate & decisive, because there’s nothing worse than tripping over your own feet at the end of the day.

When you look back, you won’t see or feel the hard work, because it’s gone. You’ll see the finished product- a clean, clutter-free life, and you’ll feel accomplished and elated.

Hard work is its own reward, and it only pays off the longer you keep at it.

Man oh man oh man... and the lessons rolled in one after another and molded my life to be nearly unrecognizable in comparison with how it was when I’d begun.

I had the most amazing boss a guy could ask for. He was hard, sometimes, as in he wanted your best effort, and sometimes that means moving your butt in 80 degree weather like it’s 60.

With my new outlook on life and my recently-found motivation to push myself, I’d outlasted quite a few men on that crew, and I’d still show up every day and put in the best work I could do.

An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay- it gets no more simple than that.

The point I’m getting to here is this: he put a lot of faith in his workers. He fronted us money if we were struck with a financial inconvenience, he trusted us with credit cards and job-sites... quite frankly, he trusted us with his business and its reputation. At times, his livelihood rested in our hands, because one fault or foul could send the whole operation belly-up.

He took on men that have just been released from jail or prison if he saw something in them... a desire to change or make a better life for themselves.

For instance, when I’d been fired from my last job, I’d only picked wood up for a stove from this guy, and in desperate need for employment, I reached out to him. I was a perfect stranger- I was eons weaker than I am now, I didn’t know a thing about the arborist business... I was green, I’m telling you. I was as light of a foot as they come, and he hired me.

Since that day, I’d brought my A-game... I’s hustled, I’d strained, I’d built myself to be a better tool for his company and I’d sharpened my knowledge to do those jobs efficiently. I hadn’t taken lightly the faith he put in me, and that meant being there anytime he needed my help; rain, shine, sick, healthy, able-bodied or injured... except when I fell out of a tree while camping. I mean, I could barely hike out of that one. I needed a week to heal. I was so afraid my foolish shenanigans had potentially lost me the best job I’ve ever had... but he was supportive. He told me, “Heal up, take it easy, and we’ll see you when you get back.”

He had seen my efforts because I’m still learning to this day how to operate certain machinery or safely maneuver about the job site without having my skull crushed in by 200 lbs of cold, hard log, but for a different company now and with his blessing and well-wishes.

He’d been a friend, a guide, a mentor... a damn good employer.

I cannot think of anyone by whom I’ve ever been employed that would deserve this break more than him given the recent financial turmoil small businesses have been facing. If I could repay him for all the kindness, patience and faith he has put into me, I’d consider it the rawest form of good karma, and he needs some, dear reader. We all do. His actions and kindnesses these past few years make him a highly deserving applicant, and my life is proof of it.