January 29 – “The Leaning Tower of Backyard”

We had a potential major crisis temporarily averted yesterday.  Sunday afternoon I glanced out our back window into our back yard where we have not spent much time lately since it is winter.  Something didn’t look quite right to me, so I walked back there for a closer look. Sure enough, the electrical pole that resides in our back yard seemed to be leaning.  I moved in for a closer look and was horrified to see that the pole was indeed leaning precariously.  I’m not so good at estimating angles, but I’m pretty sure it hadn’t quite reached 45 degrees yet.  My first reaction was one of relief, since it was headed in the opposite direction.  If it fell, it wouldn’t land on our house.  The thing that really caught my attention, though were the wires that bring electricity from the pole to our house.  They were stretched to just about their absolute limit before they started ripping away from our house.  The same wires going to the houses behind us were sagging so much that they hung down to the level of the chain link fence, about three or four feet above the ground.  That cinched it for me.  My only decision was whether to wait until Monday to call it in. 

We did wait, but first thing yesterday morning I made the call.  After listening to the classic automated computer answering system, it became apparent that there was no real category for “Averting Emergencies.”  I finally bypassed all the systems and pushed “O,” hoping it would get me to a human being so I could explain the situation.  It took a while, but I finally connected with an operator who promised a troubleshooter would be here by around noon. 

Around 12:30 he pulled up.  He was a big guy, but it was going to take more than one fellow to pull that pole back upright.  He did his inspection.  By inspection I mean he grabbed a hammer and a shovel from his truck.  He rapped on the pole twice with the hammer.  He dug one scoop away from the bottom of the pole and scraped a bit of eth wood off.  That was enough.  He officially declared the wood to be rotten and placed a call to his supervisor.  Didn’t take long for a whole crew to arrive. 

They were pleasantly surprised to see a vacant lot right next to the pole.  Made it a whole lot easier to access.  They backed the truck up as close as they could while one guy dug a really deep hole next to the pole with an extra-long post hole digger.  Maneuvering carefully around the electrical, telephone, and cable TV wires, they managed to lift a tall, skinny temporary fix pole into place.  They strapped a cable around the old pole and carefully pulled it to an almost upright position.  They couldn’t get it completely straight, because as they pulled the pole, the wires going to the houses behind us began to tighten almost as bad as ours had been.  Obviously they had been hung after the pole lean had begun.  They drilled holes through both poles with the longest drill bit I have ever seen, and inserted two huge bolts to hold the poles together.  It was just a temporary fix, but hopefully it will hold until a new pole can be requisitioned and delivered.  They said they were putting a rush on it.  Not because of any impending danger, though.  They just want to take advantage of the vacant lot before someone starts building on it.  Kind of amazing what little things there are to be thankful for.  It’s all about perspective, I guess.

Psalms 62:11-12 says, “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.”

Father, thank you for protecting us from the falling electrical pole disaster.  Another one of those things that never happened but could have.  Amen.