It took him about 30 minutes to completely destroy our driveway.
The job foreman left him at our house in the morning to do demolition. He, the Bobcat Skid-Steer and the hydraulic breaker quickly made our old driveway and sidewalk look like an earthquake site.
I watched him skillfully zoom around, dragging the tip of the hydraulic breaker, then curling the tip up to lift sections. He was careful around the edges, and made quick work of the middle.
In 30 minutes, he had nothing to do but wait for the truck to haul away the carnage.
To him, he was waiting at a job site, but to us he was a human, sitting in a bobcat in our driveway. We really wanted to offer something more comfortable.
I tried to talk to him – he spoke some English, but not a lot. I tried to point out the chairs on our front porch where he could relax until the truck arrived. He smiled, waved, and sat back in the bobcat.
Comfort is relative – the bobcat was familiar to him, but my porch was not.
I little later I took him a cold bottle of water. I told him earlier that they were on the porch, but he had not been brave enough to get one yet. He gratefully received it from me and quenched his thirst. In the bobcat.
We bought lunch to share with him from a local restaurant. Google translate told him that I was leaving to pick up lunch and that he could sit on the porch. Again, a smile and a wave.
I returned with take-out, and found him sitting in the bobcat. I motioned for him to follow me. We went around the side of the house and when the screened in porch was in view I indicated that we were going there. I sensed a bit of awkward discomfort and notice him duck to the side of the house to wash his hands with the garden hose.
The three of us gathered in the porch with wings, hamburgers, fries, and lots of water to drink. Thanks to some persistence, basic conversation topics, and a little help from Google translate, we managed to learn a bit about this skilled laborer who was starting to transform out driveway into something special. We shared some smiles and laughs along with our food.
The next morning he was back on the job site, along with two helpers to do the framing. He caught my eye and instantly smiled and waved – so did I.
He led his buddies to the porch for lunch.
My heart was joyful.
right outside of the window by the kitchen sink. The hummingbirds are less than 10 feet from me, and when they come to visit while I am washing dishes, I stop what I am doing and just watch their tiny bodies dance around the feeder between sips of sugar water.
Live Grateful Today 