Alphonso Caal on my roof.

If There Is a God, She Is Smiling on Me

Mom Ana Patricia and Ana Violeta.

When the mini-Doratio came through my neighborhood yesterday, it left some of my roof tiles spread across the yard. I found them and the mess on the roof this morning. I have put a roof on a house before, but I was 40 years younger than I am now and in much more flexible condition.

I decided to give repairing the roof a try anyway. I went to Lowe's and got some tiles (a really nice guy who works there gave me four tiles that had come out of a package) and a box of roofing nails. I got home and went at it.

I was hammering away when a car stopped in front of my house and a Guatemalan family got out of the car and approached me, speaking Spanish, which I don't speak beyond gracias or hola. He went to the translator on his phone and I got a vague idea why he stopped. He wanted to do the roofing. I told him he was hired. But he shook his head.

I called my daughter-in-law Kara in Texas, who is fluent in Spanish. She got to the heart of it. Alphonso Maaz Caal is a professional roofer, newly arrived from Guatemala with his wife, Ana Patricia and daughter, Ana Violeta. He was offering to fix the roof for me. No charge. Just a friendly neighbor.

They went home and got his work truck and gear and he was on the roof in a jiffy, finishing a fine repair job in 10 to 15 minutes. I gave his daughter, Ana Violeta, who is about 6, a copy of my children's book "Saving Homer" and a stuffed Homer animal. She seemed pleased.

These are truly nice people. Good neighbors. The kind of neighbors I want.