Fred’s Fill Dirt and Croissants—Technology Or
Inventiveness?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I treasure a postcard from Missoula
in the early ‘80’s. The card pictures an earth-moving business in the
background. In the foreground perches a stand from which the proprietor sells
croissants. It was pure Missoula. At that time every convenience-store clerk
had a master’s degree and held two or three jobs just to survive.
In contrast, a friend forwarded me a
look into the future. It sounded like 1984
on steroids. I thought the article painted a bleak picture. Obviously from the
presentation, whoever put it together thought the predictions the best thing
since, well, sliced bread with peanut butter.
From the forecast, technology zoomed
ahead so quickly that in a few years one would never have to lift a finger or
even leave one’s abode, not for any reason. Medical care, grocery delivery,
recreation, friendships, occupations, long life. Everything imaginable would be
done by super-technology. There would be no auto accidents because transportation
would be technologically controlled. We wouldn’t even die. Live forever, oh
king. I hope you are laughing.
Well, who knows? But we live in the
here and now. I’m not technologically adept but find my devices to be flawed,
even if more often than not the flaw is operator error. You are still laughing,
right?
My personal here and now happens to
be a village in the mountains of Jalisco. Guadalajara, an hour away, is the
technological center of this country.
But my pine tree episode brought my Missoula
postcard to mind vividly.
My tree, a type of pine native to
Mexico, stood thirty-plus meters high and a mere two meters from the wall of my
casita, beautiful, with a root system wreaking havoc. The roots carved a crack
the length of my floor, right through the center of the tiles. I can’t undo
that damage. But the tree had to go.
One can’t just cut a tree. A trip to
a government office with pictures of the damage quickly secured the necessary permit.
I got three bids. If you’ve ever had a tree professionally removed, you don’t
even want to know how stupid cheap my bids came in. I chose the middle bid from
two brothers who handed me their business card: waiters and caterers, day job
and special events. Tree removal and plumbing on the side. Some construction
and electrical. Another reminder of old Missoula.
Wednesday Jorge and Sergio showed up
as promised. Professional equipment included a pick-up truck, a small chain
saw, a hand saw, a machete and an assortment of ropes.
Sergio monkeyed up my pine tree,
hacking branches with his machete as he went, leaving stubs for grips, hand and
foot. Jorge dragged the branches to the pick-up to be hauled away. By the end
of the first evening my tree was limbed out, the top roped around for cutting
the next day and the pick-up truck loaded so heavily it sat on the wheels.
The second day the brothers arrived
late, having changed two flat tires. Again Sergio scooted up the tree, rigged himself
into a kind of rope-saddle, pulled up the hand saw and flapping in the breeze
like a flag, sawed the top three meters almost through. He tossed a rope to his
brother who hitched it to the back of the truck and pulled the piece until it
snapped. Sergio then lowered the top to the ground on ropes. Jorge chopped the
trunk into pieces for removal.
Sergio secured the next section with
ropes, pulled up the chain saw, and cut the trunk nearly through. Tossed down a
rope and they repeated the process. Thus, in incrementally shorter sections
(heavier, bigger around), eventually they will remove my tree.
The man at the Tlapaleria (materials
for construction) said it succinctly, “Gringos have technology. Mexicans have
inventiveness. Most Montana men and women, used to doing what it takes to
survive, appreciate technological advances as well as inventiveness. We know
beef doesn’t grow digitally in grocery stores!
Fred, peddling his fill dirt and
croissants, would salute Jorge and Sergio, were they to meet. But if Fred is
still around, my money says all three men carry smart phones.
Sondra
Ashton
HDN: Looking
out my back door
May 26, 2016
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment