Leaning on your community

Nate receives some help from a neighbor that reminded him of the importance of community, accepting help, and paying it forward.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey folks, it's uh Nate with the Dry Life. Hope all of you are well. Hope you're having a good day, a good week. Um so today I uh want to talk a little bit about community based on a recent uh interaction I had. Um so we had uh recently we had some storms come through um branches down in one particular tree on the north side of our house. Um pretty good sized branch. It uh it broke and then it was hanging um from the tree, and I was trying to figure out okay, what are we gonna do? Um and then we overnight it uh it actually separated from the tree, which was good, fell fully to the ground, but it was still kind of hanging on. Um so anyway, I do have tools in the garage, um, but um nothing that could help me really help me with getting rid of this branch, chopping up the wood, and um ultimately disposing of it. So uh I ventured out and I um I got one tool from a neighbor, and um it uh it wasn't exactly what I I mean it was it was helpful, it was more than I had. So I started working with that. I had a small axe, and um, you know, just trying to figure this thing out. Well, um, I'd say about half hour into the process, a neighbor of mine came over and uh and said, uh, you know, do you need some help? And of course my reaction was, well, I'm you know, I I think I I've I've I've got a handle on it, and um he uh he uh said he was gonna run home and grab some tools and help me out. Um well he had uh a chainsaw, he had a uh um a pole chainsaw, which was basically some of you may know what this is, but basically a small chainsaw on a large pole that you could reach high with. Anyway, he came over and helped me get everything on the ground within 15 minutes. Um and then after that, he uh offered to get on my roof and cut down some other stray branches that were um gonna come down or just needed to be uh taken down. Um so he went all around the house, did that, and then he said, you know, there's a lot of debris on your roof, and um I'm gonna go get my blower and and uh get that stuff off. So within maybe 45 minutes, uh we had the tree down, he trimmed some other branches, and he uh used his blower to get stuff off my roof. And um and I was you know very thankful. And then I was thinking, well, okay, now what do I do with all this stuff? And he and then he just mentioned, well, you know, I've got my dumpster over there, it's on a trailer. Throw your stuff, you know, let's throw your branches in there and we can take them to the um city compost site. Wow, okay. But wait, it it it gets but wait, there's more. Um and so I'm in the process of of you know taking the branches and putting them in his dumpster, and then his wife comes over and starts helping me pull the branches over and and uh remove them from the yard. I was absolutely stunned. Um, and apparently this is how things work in our town. Um I I kind of stick to myself, so it's um it was very nice, and um I was very thankful for that, and I was thankful enough to ask my neighbor what his poison was. I was, you know, gonna buy him um the alcohol of his choice as a thank you, and he said he doesn't drink. Interesting. So um, you know, I told him I don't either, and um so after um after uh uh we got um my yard cleaned up, um he mentioned he was gonna help out one of the other neighbors, and um, I mean the least I could do was go over there and help them out. So that was a good feeling. Um, you know, paying it forward a little bit, going to help the uh the neighbor uh a couple doors down, um, get rid of their stuff into um his dumpster, and then we proceeded to go and take it to the um compost site. Um just a uh just a wonderful experience, you know, uh to have a neighbor looking out for you that way, and you know, to to to get in that mindset of community. Um and uh and then just today we um we were at church and the um the basic idea of the sermon was to talk about uh community over individuality, you know, thinking beyond yourself, being a part of the community. And that just uh you know perfectly meshed with my experience yesterday. So um I know like it seems like neighbors don't necessarily um lean on each other or as or uh have as as much interaction with each other than you know from what I remember as a kid. Um but it's a great thing, it's really uh really cool. And maybe I'm stating the obvious, but that was an experience um that I really appreciated. Um it was a lot of work. And he uh, you know, that this couple just came over and started helping and said, you know, that's kind of what we do here in this community. So I guess I guess uh my ask of you is just to um take a take a little bit of time, get to know the folks that live near you, around you, across the street, next door, and um you know you may be uh able to offer something um that they need that they that they could use that you know from your standpoint you think nothing of it, but from their standpoint, it's um it would mean the world. And you know, after after I got the help yesterday, I was like, you know, trying to think of wow, how can I repay this? And that was the that was a um I guess maybe not the best mindset to be in. It was more about um accepting the help, being gracious and thankful, and then I had the opportunity to pay it forward with the with the other neighbors. So um I think it's more a matter of just um being thankful and just uh you know that thankful that we live in a community where you know where folks care. And it's not the it's not the only case um where this has happened. Um we've we've got really great folks that live around this. And you know, and I think back, I there was a um older man that lived next door, he has since moved out um, you know, to a um a townhouse that is a little more manageable for him, and they're in the process of selling their house. But when he was there, I would I would help him all the time. And from my standpoint, no big deal. You know, run him run him on a couple errands, um, mow his grass every once in a while, help out with the leaves during the fall. And so when I when I look back on that, it really I enjoyed helping. It was not a big deal, and I'm thinking my neighbor had the same experience. So anyway, um, I just wanted to share that with y'all. I thought it was pretty special, and um, you know, I think there's there's uh there's many ways you can reach beyond yourself, help others, and it doesn't have to be a major event, it doesn't have to be a big deal, it's just um, you know, looking out for each other. That's what I have this week. Um, I hope you have a terrific week. Um uh it's um mid June and and boy the weather has been wonderful here in Minnesota the last couple days. I hope you're getting your version of the perfect summer and the summer weather. And um we'll talk to you we'll talk to you next time.