{"id":3509,"date":"2018-10-17T02:39:55","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T09:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/?p=3509"},"modified":"2018-10-17T02:39:55","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T09:39:55","slug":"working-in-the-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/working-in-the-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Working in the Rain"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Jon Post<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I stood on the roof rack of my Toyota Landcruiser, cautiously eyeing the grey sky but wanting to get the corrugated sheeting on the roof of my kids\u2019 playhouse. It was a project that had eluded being finished for far too long and I finally had a no-commitment morning to try to slap those things on the makeshift roof frame I\u2019d made for the makeshift playhouse.<\/p>\n I slid three sheets off and stood them up leaning on the side of The Bison (the name my younger brother, Paul, lovingly gave my Landcruiser), and reached down for another three. They are heavy and unwieldy when stacked together so I didn\u2019t want to move all at once for fear of their weight taking over and bringing me off the top of the truck with them.<\/p>\n Torres ambled over, anxious to feel useful and anxious to avoid Jon\u2019s inevitable tumble and resulting hospitalization. He quietly gripped the three metal sheets already down and hefted them up and began walking them over to where I\u2019d designated. I paused and watched him as he made his way to a nonspecific patch of my lawn about 10 meters away. He swayed and almost stumbled then set them down.<\/a><\/p>\n Torres was a metalworker\/welder before Non-Hodgkin\u2019s Lymphoma and its treatment became his every day pattern. Instead of hoisting a welding machine and metal grinder onto his strong back and walking to a client\u2019s location every day, he now wakes every day to body aches, low energy levels, and dizziness. Instead of feeling resilient and capable, he deals with fragility and forgetfulness. Where once he would have picked up six sheets of 3 meter long corrugated metal, laughing at my caution to \u201cbe careful\u201d he sways and stumbles as he carries half the load a few short meters.<\/p>\n Still, without a complaint he smiled at me and said, \u201cToday, we will work together!\u201d even as pain and weariness tried to convince him that was not possible.<\/p>\n He is a metalworker after all.<\/p>\n After we had stacked all the heavy sheets of corrugated metal together, lined all the ends up and clamped them down so that one cut can create 9 even pieces of roofing, the rain began. It was light and felt refreshing on our shoulders so we continued working together. The metal grinder with its cutting wheel began its journey across the roofing and Torres\u2019s welder-scarred hands held steady with no fear of the sparks and shards of molten metal pin wheeling through the air and threatening to create more scars.<\/p>\n The rain grew heavier.<\/p>\n We both glanced up at the rain and decided it was probably not good for the tools if we continued to get them wet so agreed it was best to pause and wait for it to let up.<\/p>\n I could see a bit of relief in Torres\u2019s face.<\/p>\n He needs frequent breaks now.<\/p>\n Sometimes it\u2019s nice to work a bit in the rain, stretching aching muscles, being reminded of a youth without the weariness we feel now.<\/p>\n