Thursday, April 15, 2010

it grows on trees


Saturdays are my mornings to sleep in.


Of course, I can sleep in any morning; I'm retired.  But I have had 61 years of practices with Saturday sleep-ins.


This last Saturday, I heard some commotion in my court yard.  The gardener was there with two other men.  A quick glance at one of them told me the cocos were about to be trimmed.


But the gardener needed me to be a part of this landcapiong morality play.  My truck was parked close enough to the coconut palm that it might get banged up once the palapas and coco cannon balls started falling.


Then, he remembered my ankle.  But no problema.  The third fellow in the trio knew how to drive.


Once the truck was out of the way, the trimmer went to work.  I did not get my camera out in time to see him climb the bottom portion of the palm, but you can see his technique.  Without aid of a rope, he used his feet and hands to scramble up the tree.  His only rope is the tether to his machete.


Once at the crown of the palm, he cuts out all dead growth, cleans up the other debris that collects in palm trees (you don't want to know), and cuts the ripe coconuts.


It appears that the common practice is to pay the trimmer in coconuts.  That does not sound like much, but coconuts are a valuable commodity in these parts -- even though they grow everywhere.  In some places, money does grow on trees.


And it reminds me that I should never complain about the work where I am about to return.  I could be making my living cleaning out bird carcasses.

 

6 comments:

Calypso said...

I traded out with an hombre to cut a tree down close to my casa. It was uprooting the cement on my deck. Fall the tree for the wood - a good trade ;-)

In the US they would want the wood and $500.00!

Anonymous said...

Our palm trees here have lots of scorpions living in the dead fronds or 'pencas'. I might let go when I got stung and that would be the end of me.

1st Mate said...

I was wondering about scorpions up there. In fact, ever since your last post, Steve, I've been having nightmares about scorpions!

Steve Cotton said...

Calypso -- A neighbor up north hired a guy to chop down a tree. He had to pay the guy to take the wood in addition to cutting down the tree. A different world.

Anonymous -- There are plenty of nasties in those pretty crowns.

1st Mate -- They are the very essence of nightmares.

Charles said...

Hi Steve - hope you are happily esconced in Salem by now - several friends living in MX use this for mail - and they love it...you might want to check it out when you get back next winter - www.earthclassmail.com - take care -

Steve Cotton said...

Charles -- Right now I am sitting in Alaska's Los Angeles Board Room. But I am almost back in Oregon, When I get back to Mexico, I will take a look at the referral. There are no better references than happy cutomers.