The Cable Crew

The cable crew came

and dug their holes today,

locating the precise areas

they were looking for.

I watched one of them as

he first removed the top

soil with sod and placed it

carefully to one side,

creating a medium but tidy

pile of grass and soil.

He then continued his

excavation, which I am

guessing measured about

four feet in depth,

making a lager mound

of rich and fertile clods

of dirt on the other side.

In a few hours their work

was done (perhaps the

repair or replacing of

the old with the new).

The laborer, shovel in hand

and with swift and muscular

motions, began refilling

the hole he had

previously dug.

First he attacked the

large pile, and when

that was done,

he proceeded to

carefully replace

the clods of sod

in the smaller mound.

Another worker came

with a pneumatic jack

and pounded the

affected area until it

matched the level of

the surrounding

undisturbed yard.

And when they were

done, I could barely

tell that the land had

been touched at all.

Smart and slick,

I thought

to myself, careful

to return

the workplace to

it’s original state.

(Ah ha, these guys

somewhere

along the way

had learned from

their mistakes.)

It was then I

became acutely

aware—

surely these

cable guys

had done

this kind of work

before.

Chris Hanch 1-12-19