Ben and his Backhoe/Bulldozer to the Rescue

I mentioned in my last post that we had purchased some trees on Friday night. Our friends Jackie and Paul met us at the nursery and loaded 3 large Willow Oaks, 2 large Tupelo (Black Gum), 3 large River Birch, and one Christmas tree onto the back of a trailer that Paul was hauling behind his pickup. They then delivered them directly to the doorstep of Farm Dover. I don't know how we would have managed without their help.

Then today, our new neighbor, Ben, headed up our drive with his backhoe/bulldozer to help us dig holes for the trees. He worked with us all afternoon. He would dig the hole with his John Deer yellow machine, then Ed and Ben would roll a large tree into the hole and all three of us would work to pack the hole with dirt. As dark came on, Ben headed back down the drive to his farm (just two doors down from us) and Ed and I gave the new trees a good watering. Again, I don't know how we would have managed without his help.

When we lived in the city, we looked to our neighbors when we needed to borrow a cup of sugar or an egg. Now that we live in the country, we turn to our neighbors to help plow our garden, bush-hog our fields or dig wide and deep holes for trees. In every instance, they show up and are happy to help. When we tried to pay Ben for his afternoon of hard work and use of his equipment, he was reluctant to take any payment, saying he just did it to be a good neighbor. I'm promoting him to great neighbor status.