![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Not My Back
Feb. 15th, 2007 08:15 amIt's finally quiet out on the street. The last of those who had to get unburied, the first morning after the big storm, are finally gone. Even though I'm now retired, I was out with the earliest of them to take my youngest daughter to work. Fortunately for me, and for her, the plows did the opposite side of the street last night and our driveway was relatively clear.
Tomorrow will be a different story, though. Because it's a narrow street to begin with, we have an alternate parking arrangement. At 6 PM on odd days, parking is on our side and at 6 PM even days it's on the other. If everyone cooperates, that gives the plow trucks a clear path down each side on every other day. If not, they get towed. But it also means that, on whichever side is plowed, the ends of the driveways get filled.
Last night was especially bad for the folks across the street. On their first pass after the storm, the plows had to cut back the snow banks closer to where the curbing would be if we had any. As a result, the driveways on the other side are filled with huge blocks of snow and ice that'll now have to be moved so the sidewalks and driveways can be used.
I'm almost considering parking on the street tonight because it's our turn next and I have to be out early to pick my wife up from her overnight shift at the hospital. And with back surgery two weeks away, I'm truly not ready for any lifting.
Bottom line is that life's gotta change. Even after the surgery, I'm not gonna be doing what I used to do. Of the two injuries to my lower back, they're only gonna fix one. Besides which I need to be smarter about how I live the rest of my life. Which means I'll not want to wreck what's gonna be fixed, assuming things go the way they're supposed to.
So, for now, our kids come over and shovel the sidewalk and driveway while I sit and muse how I used to be the one who pushed stranded cars and helped the neighbors. And as nice as it is to stay indoors, where it's warm and dry, a part of me is always gonna miss that. Just, you know, not my back.
LPK
LiveJournal
2.15.2007
Tomorrow will be a different story, though. Because it's a narrow street to begin with, we have an alternate parking arrangement. At 6 PM on odd days, parking is on our side and at 6 PM even days it's on the other. If everyone cooperates, that gives the plow trucks a clear path down each side on every other day. If not, they get towed. But it also means that, on whichever side is plowed, the ends of the driveways get filled.
Last night was especially bad for the folks across the street. On their first pass after the storm, the plows had to cut back the snow banks closer to where the curbing would be if we had any. As a result, the driveways on the other side are filled with huge blocks of snow and ice that'll now have to be moved so the sidewalks and driveways can be used.
I'm almost considering parking on the street tonight because it's our turn next and I have to be out early to pick my wife up from her overnight shift at the hospital. And with back surgery two weeks away, I'm truly not ready for any lifting.
Bottom line is that life's gotta change. Even after the surgery, I'm not gonna be doing what I used to do. Of the two injuries to my lower back, they're only gonna fix one. Besides which I need to be smarter about how I live the rest of my life. Which means I'll not want to wreck what's gonna be fixed, assuming things go the way they're supposed to.
So, for now, our kids come over and shovel the sidewalk and driveway while I sit and muse how I used to be the one who pushed stranded cars and helped the neighbors. And as nice as it is to stay indoors, where it's warm and dry, a part of me is always gonna miss that. Just, you know, not my back.
LPK
LiveJournal
2.15.2007
