Life would be easier. . .

If we had one of these lifts here at the hotel. Alas, that will never happen. We do, however, have a new extension ladder that will go up to 32 feet. Being that we're surrounded by trees, this is a handy contraption to have around.

Miguel is the man when it comes to getting up high and cutting down the branches that are hanging over power lines or have started to sag dangerously. Three days ago was no exception as he and Chiza headed up the driveway with the new ladder and the smaller 20-foot extension.

I wandered up as well, and by the time I made my way up there, the 32-foot ladder was already extended and roped to the tree; about 15 feet off of the ground. That's where the smaller ladder came in, as it was extended out and also lashed to the tree. Because of the angle of the tree, both ladders were completely vertical, no slope at all. Miguel, wearing a harness, clambered up and hopped up in the crook of a tree with a branch that was hanging precariously over the driveway by the front gate.

He lassoed a smaller branch further out and we secured the rope around it to pull it down after Miguel had finished chopping on the branch with a hatchet. No way was anyone going to haul the chainsaw up that high.

Miguel hacked and chopped at the limb (about 18 inches or so around) and then came down and we pulled on the branch to get it to snap. No luck. Up went Miguel again for some more chopping. Repeat pulling; repeat lack of luck. The third time, Miguel took another rope to toss out further so we could get more leverage while pulling. He was still whacking away with the hatchet. He quit when he heard the branch start to crack and scampered back down.

Finally, success. The branch (about 25 feet long) came crashing down on the driveway with no extra damage to anything.