Will Winter End?

We have been experiencing a very cold winter this year, accompanied by lots of snow. This has created some difficult health problems for my husband. He wakes up every morning between 2:30 and 3:00 to check outside and see if more snow has fallen. If there is more than one inch, he gets dressed in his winter thermal leggings, heavy socks, warm shirt and pants, thermal coveralls, snow boots, along with all the head coverings and gloves he can find, and he heads off to work. His job is clearing off the high school parking lots and sidewalks before people start to arrive, which is around 6:00a.m. The more snow to move, the harder the job. The parking lot at the school is huge and extends around the entire school. Teachers park in the front and in the back, between buildings, and in their own secret places. Each parking area must be scraped and salted so the district isn't libel if anyone slips and gets hurt. With so much snow coming every day, the job never ends.

He does have a 4-wheeler with a blade that helps to make the job a bit easier, and the district maintenance comes and helps on really heavy snow days, but sometimes they make it even more difficult because they push everything into a huge pile and then it is harder to add any more to that pile of snow. For those who know the building and parking lot, here is an explanation: The "new" parking lot on the south side of the building goes around the football field. There is a large wall around the football field that is so tall that when you stand by the wall you can't see the field at all. The wall is probably about 8 feet tall. The snow is now piled up to the top of the wall and extends about 6 feel out of the wall. The parking lot on the north side of the building has piles in it so high that you can't see the cars on the other side of the median. The amount of snow is ridiculous!.

Then, you also have to consider all the sidewalks and steps. Around the Spartan Center there are so many steps that must be scraped off about 10 times a day. It seems like it never ends. All the sidewalks around the building must be snow and ice free. The walkways from the bus zone to the school must be cleared off before the buses arrive. There is also a walk-way from the sub-division by the baseball field that must be cleared off from the highway, along the baseball field, to the parking area by the football field. It is just a small walkway,used by about 4 people, but it is a hazard for the school. It is difficult to get to because of the snow on each side. There is literally no place to put any more snow when scraping off the walkways.

Two weeks ago there was so much snow each day. Garth was gone all day, spending endless hours on the scraper and shovels. Even though he wore warm gloves, using his thumb on that throttle so much resulted in very frozen, hurt hands. Last weekend his thumb was so swollen and sore that he could hardly use it. It hurt every time he touched it. The other day he noticed that his thumb is white. It is painful to use, and if it gets bumped he is in real pain. He tried to pick up something and move it yesterday and he winced, shaking his hand and gritting his teeth in obvious pain. He is going to the doctors tomorrow to have it looked at.

His back is also hurting him so badly he can't sleep at night. He had a shot less than 3 months ago that helped to calm down the pain, but all the work on the 4-wheeler has bothered it again. He was put on a medrol pak two weeks ago, and it helped for about a week. Now the pain is back again, so badly he can hardly walk. He will always continue doing his job, then come home hurting so bad that it makes me cry. I wish I could take his pain away from him.

He knew we were low on coal for our stove, so yesterday we drove up to the coal mine to get some lump coal. He had to load it by hand, big heavy lumps of coal. He loaded about a ton with the help of the one guy who still lives up there. It is a good thing we went this weekend instead of waiting a week because we got the last of the pile. This particular mine isn't working any more, so there is nothing left up there. If we need more we will have to find another place to get lump coal. But then, maybe we won't have to load it by hand. All that work just made for a bad night.

Today our plan is to just sit and relax his back and not pick up anything that will hurt his thumb. Even though there is a skiff of snow, he isn't going to scrape, shovel, or sweep. He needs rest. He is realizing that he isn't as young as he once was and that the hard work he has done all his life is catching up with him. The injuries are harder to recover from, and harder to accept that you must slow down.

He is still doing the floors at Alco all by himself, which is also adding to the pain. He works so much because he knows there is literally no one else in the county that will do the job. He knows that because he has called around and can't get anyone else to do it! No one will even come to help him, let alone take it all over and do it for the money. The money isn't enough to worry about, but he does it because they need someone to do it. It is almost to the point that he will be telling them "Thanks, but no thanks. Your floors just will not get done by me any more."

Garth is a great guy who cares about helping people out. But he needs to look at getting himself feeling better. Today is his day to just sit and relax and take time for himself. He has been too busy to take a few minutes for himself. Now is his time. I love you, dear!