Back in February, NIPSCO came and chopped up a bunch of trees along the backs of our properties (our neighbors and us) to keep them clear of the power lines. They ended up leaving a ridiculous mess, and they never really came to clean it up (even though Frank called them repeatedly and asked them to).[1]
Willis and I cleaned up the remainder of that mess (they had left a huge, initial mess, cleaned up some of it, and left some behind) from our property about a month or two ago. It was a serious undertaking.
Frank and Dolores had a ton of wood, brush, and grossness left behind that they weren't going to be able to remove by themselves (plus, the alley way that goes back there is blocked off by some guy's car). Dolores has been working for several weeks on getting the stuff organized into piles so that Frank can mow that area. I've been feeling so bad watching her work (she typically would work on it during the week and during the day), and I wished I could go over there and help her (baby belly and Nora kind-of made that impossible).
Dolores was doing all this cleaning up around the time that we got our trees cut down (and we had a bunch of wood laying in our yard because we knew people wanted the firewood). Then, I got the idea to put their wood (and maybe any wood that we might have left if we had any left—but we didn't have any left) on my Freecycle list. There's always someone on there that's willing to do some grunt work to get something for free (some guy came and shoveled our sand pile into his truck when we built our patio awhile back). So, that's what I did.
The guy I chose (there were several taker wannabes) came over here with a truck and a trailer ready to go and grab all the wood (he even brought help). (Incidentally, this guy wants to use the wood to heat his house.) Unfortunately, his first attempt was unsuccessful because that guy's car was still blocking the alley way.[2] The man that owned the car said that he'd have to change his tire to move the car, and he said that he'd call him when it was moved. I had a feeling this could go on for months (or forever). I was bummed.
Today (just two days after the first attempt), the man from the Freecycle list stopped by my house with his car and trailer utterly loaded with wood. He came up to my door to tell me that the man had fixed his car, moved it, and called him this morning. I was stunned. I seriously could not believe that the guy (who owned the car) was nice enough (and motivated enough) to actually, like, change his tire and move his car so this guy could get some wood. That was really cool.
So, the wood is gone! Frank and Dolores won't have to worry about ever having it moved, and that makes me feel so happy. They help me out so much and so often, I was so glad to be able to do this for them. (And the timing couldn't be better for a boost of feel-good action.)
And now, I spread the feel-good action onto you. Have a good weekend!
[1] NIPSCO is seriously evil. Seriously.
[2] I learned from the man who picked up the wood that La Porte has apparently abandoned all of its alleyways. So, technically, the man parked in the alley probably has the right to do so (or half the right). Possibly. Maybe he moved it because he was afraid that, perhaps, he didn't? That's a possibility, too. Even if that's the case, a lot of people still wouldn't be motivated to move a car that's been sitting for months (or even years). So, I'll give the car-owner the benefit of the doubt. I'm starting to like this town more and more.
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