The Writer's Pen

Robert Frost has a poem talking about promises to keep and miles to go before you sleep. Do you ever think about the things you need to accomplish in your day? It’s not such a big deal for me since I’m retired, but there are still days I wonder if it’s possible to accomplish all the things that need to be done.

After a long winter, springtime is finally arriving. There will be lots of mowing, trimming, planting and fertilizing needed to make our corner of the world a prettier place. I still have customers that ask me to do those things, and also a wife that thinks I should do those things at home.

As I age, however, I realize that it takes longer to accomplish these tasks, even though I’ve been resting all winter! In years past I did those same things, had a full-time job, and had three active kids and a working wife to deal with. It’s no wonder I take naps at all hours of the day now – I’m still catching up from my years of lost sleep!

One period in my life that was especially challenging was when I finished a college degree that I had started a few years earlier. Buena Vista College was offering night-school classes in Spencer at the time, so I enrolled while working fulltime at Style Craft Furniture in Milford and living in Spirit Lake. In order to finish course work in a reasonable time, I took two classes each term. The classes went from 5:30-10:45 p.m. two nights a week, as well as extra reading and outside assignments. This was prior to the computer age, so I needed to spend lots of time in libraries. Also, I needed to be at work at 6:15 a.m. every morning. I didn’t sleep much until after I graduated.

I did what I could to organize my time, but often the hours just flew by. My wife was basically a single parent in those days since nearly every spare minute I had was spent reading or studying. I decided to allow myself four hours of sleep a night during the week, and would either stay up late or get up early. Once I fell asleep studying for an exam, and when I woke up my watch read 3:15. I didn’t know if it was a.m. or p.m., or if it was cloudy outside or dark?

After I graduated and caught up on my sleep, I started a small lawn and snow removal business in addition to my regular job. I had hoped to involve my kids, but everybody had different schedules and agendas, so it didn’t work out. I continued on by myself working evenings and weekends and still operate that business in my golden years.

Shortly after I started this business I started working for the City of Spirit Lake. The hours were good (so I thought), as I would be off by 4 p.m. I thought I would have plenty of time in the evenings for mowing yards, chasing kids, doing projects around home, fishing and hunting. While that was mostly true, it was also true that mowing and snow removal jobs are dependent on the weather. If it rains a lot the grass grows fast, and everyone wants it cut at the same time. Same for snow. If it snows a lot, everyone wants their driveways cleaned at the same time. In addition, I was on call with the city, and in 22 years, I went to work at every hour on the hour at one time or another.

Most of the year a city employee didn’t work a lot of extra hours. There were times when flags and barricades were needed for special events, sometimes there were things in the parks to be repaired, and occasionally there were spills or messes to be cleaned up in public areas. As you might imagine, these things often happened when I had something else planned. However, these annoyances were nothing compared to the wintertime extra hours due to snow removal.

Probably my best (or worst) snow removal memory was when my mom called me one Sunday to invite me for lunch on Tuesday. My aunt and cousin were visiting from Texas, so I told her I would take the day off and join them. Mother Nature had other ideas though, and dumped snow on us from Sunday evening until Tuesday morning. I started blowing snow for customers at 5 a.m. Monday, worked for the city from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., blew snow for more customers until 8 p.m., ate supper and slept until 10 p.m., then went back to work for the city. We got done with our snow removal about 11 a.m., but still had a garbage route to run. With everyone working together it would take about two hours. I called my mom and told her I couldn’t make it since I had been working since 5 a.m. the day before, and still had a couple hours to go.

“Well,” she said, “maybe you could come this afternoon for coffee and cake.”

“Sorry Mom, there’s a basketball game I’d like to got to tonight, and I really need a nap,” I told her. “Please apologize to Aunt Esther for me.”

I wanted to ask her if she had ever read “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” but I was too tired to remember the title.

Roger Brockshus and his wife, Rita, live in Spirit Lake where they are mostly retired. They have a variety of interests, and try to stay active. Roger is a member of the Hartley Writers and Poetry Group.