I'm not sure what I just experienced, but it's as close to a miracle as I've ever come. I'm atheist, but that was a hell of a coincidence.
I've been trying to replace the ridge pole on the high tunnel for weeks. It's the kind of thing that's super sturdy when everything is connected, but falls apart fast if something isn't right.
The old one was jerry-rigged out of bamboo three years ago and it rotted out this summer, resulting in all the hoops and end walls tilting like an agricultural escher drawing.
The preschool director offered to help me with it this morning, so I gave up my day off to come get it fixed. We'd been sweating our asses off, dodging falling metal ribs, for probably an hour when we tried to raise the end wall that had fallen over and realized that it took both of us to hold it up and we needed a third person to attach the pole.
And at that point, a car drove up, and a strange guy got out. Sue Ellen said hi and asks what she can do for him and he said, 'I was just driving by and thought I'd stop to see if you needed any help.'
... blink.... blink...
Well, yes, we need help in this exact moment but we're not hiring, if that's what you're asking.
And the guy proceeded to spend an hour helping us get all the pieces of the high tunnel to line up long enough to slap straps and bolts on them. He was good with tools, had solid spatial sense, and understood how to communicate and work in a team. He's from Kenya, a veteran, looking for work, but he refused my offer to pay him.
If he's still looking in October I'll definitely bring him on for strawberry planting, and ditto when I hire for next year. And in the meantime, I'll be over here wondering how the hell he showed up literally right when we hit the end of what two people could do.
