Summer Work

The weather has finally broken, allowing us to lean towards summer, 

leaving behind the chilly temperatures that plagued us 

through most of the spring.

No surer sign of spring exists than to see various

home improvement projects being started on the neighborhood

homes. At morning, trailers hitched behind pick-up trucks

can be seen leaving apartment complexes all around town. 

Traveling crews come into the area, performing work 

contracted earlier by various contractors.

I remember going to Des Moines one summer 

with Carl, who was having new roofs 

put on a couple of his properties.

The crew that came in was largely Hispanic, 

with a tall, lean man who seemed 

to be their foreman. They parked their trailer 

under a shade tree and went to work, neatly

and efficiently removing the old roof, 

that was tossed into the trailer.

Just as tidily the new roof was installed,

the men and women cleaned up after themselves,

then went on to the next contract, the next town

on their itinerary. Imagine my surprise when,

the following summer, I saw the same tall,

lean man supervising a crew as they 

installed a new roof on a nearby 

apartment building.