Hard labor?

For the past few days we have been taking out a big tree on our compound so that the trees below it that actually produce something can grow. We've had several guys working on it with machetes, that's right I said machetes. That's how they cut the limbs off, then to dig out the roots they used hoes and pick-axes. Finally today they brought a truck and tied a rope to the somewhat decapitated tree to try and pull it out and the guys were hammering away at the roots, finally it came time to try and use a chainsaw and they cut at the tree and then pulled on a rope and the tree came crashing down. They still are having to take care of the stump, but my goodness, I was watching from a window (as I knew if I was down there either I or one of the guys would loose a limb if I tried to help), and I just couldn't believe how hard they (well most of them) were working.

To go along with that, this week, the power company has been working to put a transformer onto our property since the oil keeps getting stolen from the one right outside our fence. The guys used shovels to dig through rock hard ground and then they had to hoist the poles up by themselves with a whole lot of whoopin' and hollerin' in order to get them in sync. It was crazy to witness how it happens verses just using a crane and big ol'e drills.