@Burnham, Karma is a wheel, it's good not to be in its path when it rolls round again, lest you be crushed beneath its weight.
That said, what you suggest doesn't put me in that path. He gets quite a lot of bad mouthing, all across the mountain on account of my friends and family. I get more calls for work in a week, now that I'm out of the state, than I did in the two years before I left. Be it the X, my adopted brothers, my friend Ash, or even the card-canvasing I've done, the calls come in now. Not enough to distract me from the premiere tree service in Mariposa County, mind you, but they are coming in.
I've been told in no uncertain terms by several locals in the industry that I'm the best climber on the Mogollon Rim. And they have lost me, indefinitely, to California of all places. Goodman & Cole Tree Service is my home now, and they will have to chase me off with a stick with nails in. I can't ever see myself walking away from people that treat me so well, and how could I live with myself if I did? I've been treated like family since my arrival, and I feel that every day. As I've said before, these are my people, and I'll fight about it.
Stephen is an excellent mentor, despite his morning grumbling grr grrs, and I am humbled by the opportunity I've been given to expand my horizons as a climber and improve my skills. It's amazing just how narrow my skillset actually is, growing up in an essentially monocrop forest of ponderosa. I've been climbing straight stem trees, for the most part, for 20 years. I've done more limbwalking in the last month than in my whole career previously. Stephen has been there with encouragement and advice every step of the way. His confidence aloft is contagious, his skill consumate, his passion for the work is evident to all his customers.
Beyond all that, for my personal views to be so readily accepted by so many, and even embraced, is a new experience. Without reserve, my colleagues make every jobsite a "safe space", where I am allowed to think, feel, speak and act, with complete freedom.
Rob is, flat out, a Long Stud, the kind of man who quietly holds the world up, and makes it work. His background in factory work lends him the patience to spend hours working happily on tasks like hand pruning. He runs a mini skid like a maestro, as if it's an extension of himself. The man is God-tier ground support, and a quiet, steady force to be reckoned with. He's incredibly well read and intelligent, and after a few beers, a real riot to yik-yak with.
Frank is truly remarkable, and I'm not sure they're still making men like him. A dip in his lip and and a smile on his face at all times, he happily sets his will to the toughest of tasks, with the knowledge that it could always be worse. That ol cowboy is tougher than steel fence posts, and steady as a mountain. Strong as an ox and fearless as a wolverine, Frank is the kinda guy you want on your side in a barfight, and if he isn't, you're likely morally wrong. And probably looking for the door.
In all, I've found a passel of folk like myself, who can't abide watching a friend struggle, who jump in as soon as they recognize the tune, and stick rather than run.
I've been embraced as a friend by the community as a whole, made to feel welcome and at home. I've made the kind of friends that last a lifetime in my short time here, and every one of them has my perpetual loyalty and love.
@flushcut, I never seek retribution anymore. The wheel will crush those who wrong me, as the Gods obviously smile upon me. The key is not to lose sight of that, regardless how much I might want to break off a few hypodermic needles in the hydraulic lines of his newly repaired bucket truck.
Oh, by the way, I'll be the first on stage at the Mariposa Storytelling event, on the 20th of every month at The Alley bar, at around 6pm. If anyone would like to physically hear me tell one of my tales, that's the time and place. It's also one of the ways that I know I'm right where I need to be, with the people I need to be with. Last month I told the story of my fall, not sure what I'll tell this time, its been requested that I tell a story about motorcycles.