Cold, Snow, & Broken Bones

As noted in the previous post, the temperature plummeted as I drove south from Baggs, Wyoming, into Craig. Darkness crept upon the snow-covered hills as the large moon rose to the east. A day-past-full, I thought as I watched the moon shed cold light and illuminate northern Colorado's shimmering blanket of white.

Pure crystal snow. Fresh powder. It would be great for skiing.

But so cold.

I watched for deer along the side of the road. They were on the move. Shadowy figures ready to spring from the side of the road

I went slow, watching for ice and watching the gauges.

At Baggs, the temperature on the dash read 14-degrees. At Craig, the temperature read 7-degrees at the Walmart and 9-degrees at the school.

The school.

I pulled up next to the RV, hoping it had been repaired over Thanksgiving week. I so wanted to turn on that engine and blast the heat; then, tomorrow , I could get propane and hope the furnace would work for me. It had been having issues the few times I played with it before running out of propane.

As I looked to the Godspeed from the warmth of the minivan, in the dim security lights by the garage, I could see the new belts sitting atop the RV dash.

I groaned. It would be absolutely frigid inside that RV. The inside temp is usually ten-degrees warmer than outside temps.

Not able to put it off any longer, I jumped out of the minivan, leaving it running for Buena. I threw a piece of luggage into the RV and went to find the extension cords for the two heaters. I had to drape the two orange cords out the front RV window, leaving it open a crack. One cord ran to the plug on one side of the garage; the other cord ran to the other side of the garage.

It was cold.

So

So

Cold.

With both heaters turned on inside the RV, I sat inside the car for a few moments, feeling the blast of heat on my feet and legs. Feeling tempted to go rent a hotel room, I pushed that feeling aside. I have three more weeks.

I have to make it three more weeks. I can't run as Jack Frost's icy fingers crush Craig with a mighty fistful of arctic air.

I've got to brave it these three weeks. I finally turned off the car and ushered Buena inside. We were going to figure out how to survive.

Buena immediately hopped into her bed in the bedroom, and I put a blanket over her.

Then, I started up the Buddy heater.

I lit all the candles I could find.

I put one sleeping bag inside of another sleeping bag.

Despite the heaters, the cold was pervasive. I could feel it at every gap by my feet. The cold crept between the single-pane windows that didn't close all the way. (One day, I will get these fixed!)

I moved the Buddy heater back toward the bedroom to heat it just a little. I moved the plug-in radient heater into the small hallway. The plan was to form a wall of heat that might make its way toward the bedroom.

Only....heat rises. That's a science fact. Heat rises. With the RV still slanted on the driveway, the warmer air from the heaters would flow upward and roll along the slanted roof. With the bedroom being lower, the cold would fall to the back.

I hung a sheet across the front half of the RV. Maybe that would stop the flow of heat from rising toward the front. As a dam is to a river, so this would be a dam to the rising air currents.

Somehow, I managed to bring the temperature in the bedroom to 50-degrees. I knew that once I turned off the propane Buddy heater, the temps would drop. It would be best to get into bed while there was still some heat in the air.

I slept in my clothes.

Or...tried to sleep. I worried about Buena who lay curled up in a ball beneath a blanket. When I tried to move her by me, she wanted no part of it. She curled in tighter, ignoring me. I figured she was in hibernation mode, and I'd better leave her alone.

When the first dream waves washed over me, the edges of dream images vibrated with a deep neon blue outline. In one dream, I looked at a doorway, and the edges of the door, the sides, crackled with cold electric blue, framing the door's outline with glowing ice.

I woke to a chill so deep, it felt alive. The cold reached for me through the walls themselves.

I looked at the temperature on the wall. Thirty-degrees.

Most of the night was a struggle to stay warm while also keeping tabs on Buena. Each time I would wake up to check her covers.

The next morning, I warmed myself next to the Buddy heater while getting ready for work. I dig out my serious winter boots to trudge through the snow.

Buena had to go out.

I went out with her and started the minivan. It would be the best way to warm up. I also had to move it as I was parked right in front of the school's garage door.

On the way into the school, I tried to carry too much. I needed to bring a lot inside. Somehow during my juggling act, I managed to spill my tea onto my left-gloved hand.

Hot, hot, hot!!!

The water had just boiled hot, and I had poured it into the insulated cup before stepping out the door. That boiled water now saturated my glove.

It took a moment to set everything down. By the time I set everything down, the burn had developed. The skin looked red, hot to the touch. By the time I got upstairs, a blister had formed. One dear coworker helped me to find the first aid kit. The cooling pad for burns really worked as did the instant pain-relief burn gel. I bandaged it up and went about my work day.

But, in-between grading papers, I had to figure out what to do. Temps on Tuesday night were supposed to get down to 3-degrees before warming up to 12-degrees on Wednesday night.

I emailed the garage guy. "I need to know when the RV will be fixed."

I got a quick response. They'd pull it in on Wednesday and get it done next week.

So I went to the Quality Inn on Tuesday night. This was the hotel that let me park in their side lot for a few weeks after getting kicked off of the college property by the president and HR. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in this blog, but will definitely be a story for the book!

On Wednesday, the auto guys rolled the RV into the garage. That's where I am now. I even have a zing card to get in and out of the garage at night. It's pretty sweet in here. If I could stay in here all winter, I might consider staying in Craig! But, I know that's not a reality. The nomad life and the real life where people live in houses and have regular jobs doesn't seem to mesh too well. It's too bad. The pay is good, and I'm actually starting to like this place. There's a lot of great people here, and the students here are great, some of the best I've had.

Now for the other thing that's going on...

Exactly two weeks ago on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I held Buena's leash in a large (unfenced) yard in Missouri. Buena sniffed at the leaves in the yard.

Then she spied a squirrel.

Then she chased it.

Then the carabineer at the end of the leash hooked around my ring finger with a quick snap.

The pain was immediate. I went inside and iced my finger. Over Thanksgiving week, it was a little swollen and discolored deep down.

It hurts when I type or apply pressure. Maybe it's a hairline fracture. I don't know.

All I remember about broken bones is from when I fractured my little toe. It hurt like the Dickens. People consoled me during that time with these words: Nothing hurts worse than a broken little toe. You don't realize how much you use it until it's broken. It seemed like there were a lot of little-toe experts in my world back in 2008.

Fast forward to today.

I'm waiting for my side salad with blue cheese dressing at J.W. Snacks, and this guy sitting at the bar is talking to two women, "Yeah, the arm is broken in three places. It's been terrible trying to sleep with it the last few days. Doc says he can get me in tomorrow, but he didn't give me a time."

In what world does a person have to live with a broken arm that long?

As for the fractured (?) ring finger, I'm just going to live with it. Nothing can probably be done with it anyway. Maybe I should have "buddy taped" it like with the broken little toe, but at the time I just thought it was a bruise.

As for temperatures, they've warmed up to the 30s. Today, the temp on my car read "44" at lunch.

I've got a week and a half!