Mon
Aug
04
2008
August 4th - Winter is coming.
The days do fly by. Working as I do in the great outdoors I can’t help but be aware that winter waits in the not to distant future. Freezing cold, heavy clothes, snow that is so cold it squeaks when you walk through it and dead truck batteries.
The joys of winter.
Some argue that they prefer winter, they can always put on more clothes – but when it is hot they can only suffer. How sad.
By and large these are the same people who have never had to work outside for 7 hours or longer when the high of the day reaches less than 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
No, it isn’t pleasant when the temperature reaches 100+. Did I say I enjoy it when I sweat so much my eyelids stick in the open position? I feel sympathy for anyone who swings a pick or cleans an oil spill on a hot summer day. I’ve been there and I know how the hot sun drains a working man.
And don’t forget in these summer months the sun comes up at 5:00 AM and doesn’t set until 9:00 PM. Those hours of available sunlight can make for a long day in the great outdoors. I can’t say that isn’t a bit tiring.
On the other hand a hard working man in the summer doesn’t have to deal with equipment that won’t or can’t start because the oil of the machine has assumed the consistency of rubber, a minuscule amount of water vapor in the air lines of a truck’s brake system is a huge problem of a frigid winter day.
The same thing that takes an hour to do on a hot day in July can take three hours in January just because of the cold. Hell, if it’s really cold some things take two days that take only an hour in August.
Not to mention that in cold weather a person working outdoors has to wear heavy packs, insulated coveralls, a vest, Thinsulate lined gloves, a good warm hat and/or helmet liners, at least one layer of long underwear and whatever else is needed no to die while outside.
Speaking of which . . .
The best advice I can give anyone who will have to be out there working for a living is to buy their winter gear now while it is cheap, those $50 insulated on sale Carhart coveralls will cost you $100 in November.
So for now I am enjoying the heat, the blue sky and the birds. I know what coming.
That’s it for today, take care and be safe.
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My name is John Garrett and I live in the small town of Kaycee, Wyoming. I grew up on my parent’s ranch 18 miles east of town on the Middle Fork of Powder River. 