A knock on our door started it all.
During the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, we got the opportunity to meet a super crew of linemen.
We had noticed two linemen on an ATV drive down the high line area in front of our property. Later that morning we heard a knock at our front door. Everyone who knows us comes to the back door in the garage so we were wondering who it could be. It was the two linemen minus the ATV.
They asked if we could help them. They had gotten the ATV stuck in the mud at the bottom of the hill as they attempted to go back through the little stream. “That,” he said, ” was their mistake. They should not have gone back through the same spot.”
Of course, we are from the country and usually take every opportunity to play in the mud. It’s one of our favorite pastimes. We happily said yes and gathered up our things, jumped in our ATV, and took off. Alright! Let’s get ‘er done!!!
Sped off down the high line and hooked on to their ATV and started pulling but got ours stuck also. So I ran back and climbed in my four-wheel-drive truck, and pulled down to hook on to our ATV which was still hooked onto their ATV, and tried to pull them all out but my truck was slipping in the mud.
We got our friend’s truck and tied it onto my truck which was hooked to our ATV and both pulled them all up the hill and out of the mud. But the line men’s ATV was still stuck. Finally, we drove the long way around to the other side and got the neighbor to come with some more straps. We hooked them all on their ATV and pulled them out backward.
Those two linemen were laughing and enjoying the show and we were too. All of that work and we didn’t even get mud on the trucks. They said they were in our area working to restore our power. We told them if they needed anything to just let us know and thanked them for their hard work.
Later that day I spotted them on the side of the road that leads to my grandmother’s house. They were pointing in my direction and smiling so I eased my ATV to a stop and asked if they needed anything. The gentleman, Mr. Homer said with a big smile on his face, “Yeah! You guys know how to make Gumbo?” “Well yeah! We do. We make it all the time!” I replied. I asked him if he was hungry. He said, “No, we have some sandwiches they packed us at the staging area this morning. I was just asking about the gumbo because I’ve never had any made in Louisiana.” We talked for a few minutes and they went back to work.
I headed on up to my grandmother’s house and told her what had happened. We called my friend and we got in the kitchen and made a pan of cathead biscuits, jelly, and fried some ham, and took it to those guys. They didn’t even hesitate. They jumped right in and started eating. They bragged about how good it was and put the leftovers in their truck for later. They thanked us and we went about our day.
Our paths crossed a few more times that day and later on, I’m not sure how it happened but we ended up inviting them to a gumbo dinner that night. They were excited. We took out the ingredients and started a gumbo going on the big gas burner outside. Now, remember we were still without power, living on generators using a gas stove and grills for cooking. But we cooked the gumbo, made rice, and even gave them an appetizer of Salsa and chips (see the salsa story for that story).
At dark-thirty they showed up to eat. What started as a four-man crew began to grow when they asked if they could invite a couple of more linemen working nearby. We said yes of course. The others came and we served the gumbo up and poured them some cool Louisiana iced tea. They were eating, talking about hunting, taking pictures of the moon over the trees, and having a great time. They told us they were from down around Brownsville, Texas, and had never been to this part of Louisiana and didn’t have many pine trees back home and of course no swamps.
When we finished they had to go. So, we took some pictures with them. Thanked them again for working so hard to restore our power. They said they had a great time. They loved the gumbo and asked if they could take the leftovers to their friends back at the staging area. They also asked to take the leftover salsa! Be sure to read my post about my grandmother’s salsa. It’s some great stuff.
A day later, our electricity was restored. Wow!!! That was so wonderful. Not that we suffered much without it. But getting a long hot shower was unbelievably great. I received a text from the guys asking if the power was back on. I told them YES!!! it was and thanked them again for doing such a good job.
Thank you, guys and gal, from the AEP Texas Weslaco Crew for driving two days to get here and help the people of our area. I never know what’s going to happen from day today. Even when I stay at home, I manage to have an adventure.
