The nicest person I have met since we have lived here in Arizona is our landscaper, Carmelo. Every Tuesday between 12:30 and 1:30 PM I’ll be slaving away at the laptop when all of a sudden I’ll hear those familiar sounds of leaf blowers and weed trimmers outside, then a couple of minutes later, the sound of the gate being opened and his crew of 2 or 3 workers passing by the window. Most times they’re almost like a circus clown car – the truck pulls up, they all pile out, there’s a whirlwind of activity for 15-20 minutes, and then they’re gone in a flash.

On occasion, if there’s something special I need to have done, like a tree that needs to be trimmed or a bush needing to be planted, I’ll go outside and we’ll talk for a few minutes. No matter what kind of day it is – and more of than not, it’ll be searing heat outside, Carmelo is always friendly, always smiling, always something nice to say about how the property looks, or what his plans are for the next few weeks.

Take today, for instance. The pesky Mesquite tree in our southwest corner had once again spread its branches over the back wall to the point where it was practically reaching across our neighbors’ pool. (A few years ago I spotted the neighbors standing on top of the wall with scissors in their hands trying to cut the branches back while it was still light out. I took the hint, and now try my best to keep the branches trimmed back to my side of the wall.) So today when Carmelo came, I asked him to trim the branches back again.

“Look, I know this will be a little extra, how much do you want?”
Carmelo smiled. “It’s not enough to be extra.”
“OK”, I said, “Since the neighbor next door trimmed his palms last weekend, my leafy tree that was once part of a crowd looks unkept next to his nice, neat trees. How about if I ask you to trim that tree as well?”
“How much you pay?” says Carmelo.
“I’ll give you $40 for both”, says I.
“OK”, he says, and less than five minutes later his guys are on top of the wall and inside the Mesquite tree, and branches are flying everywhere. I didn’t even hear the sound of activity in the front, but 20 minutes later both trees are looking nice and neat. As if they were always that way.

And that’s just the way it goes. Carmelo knows a little about everything. Since we’ve been here we’ve added a whole bunch of bushes and cactus to the place. He’s re-arranged my sprinklers to get better coverage on the back lawn. And I let him be an artist when it comes to trimming the bougainvillea. Sometimes I’ll ask his opinion on something I’d like to do and he’s not afraid to tell me (always in a nice way) that I’m either crazy or what a good idea it is. Mostly the latter.

If it’s a really hot day and I’m asking them to do extra stuff, I’ll offer them a cold can of soda – something I’m sure they appreciate. In return, they always do a great job and go out of their way to make sure my lime tree is picked free of ripe fruit before they leave. So for $30 a week and all the limes they can stuff in their pockets I get a front and back yard that always looks top-notch.

For the longest time, Carmelo only knew me as “Mr. Chip House”, because the guy who owned it before was named Chip. Only in the past year has he started to call me “Richard”. So we’re making progress.

This kind of thing may not be monumental in any kind of way; it’s just a reminder – sometimes, in the heat of a hectic workday, a welcome one – that there are still good, honest, and hard-working people out there who just live their lives, try and do a good job, and make a living as most people do.

I like Carmelo because he helps keeps me grounded.