He gets up at 1 or 2 am.
He gets the log truck ready for the day and then sets out to be in the woods before daylight.
He works quickly and accurately to coordinate with the men loading his truck.
He drives on winding, steep, muddy mountain roads.
Sometimes his load tips over and he has to start again.
It's humiliating, but he handles it with grace.
He drives to log mills here, there, and everywhere.
Sometimes he might be driving six hours one direction.
Sometimes he knows nothing about the mill he's going to, and has to learn it all as he goes.
He deals patiently with rude drivers who ride in his blind spots and zip around him.
He is learning more about route planning than he ever wanted to know.
His truck doesn't have air conditioning.
His radio is crackly.
The noise of the truck itself is nearly deafening...
and there are other frustrating aspects of dealing with an old truck,
things that I can't really wrap my mind around,
that he has to deal with in creative ways every day.
And this is a man who does poorly on less than nine hours of sleep.
Who has never really cared much for careful route planning.
Who hates loud noises and being overheated.
And he's doing it without complaining or getting angry.
He's doing it because it was what came available for him to do.
Never mind that he has a B.A. in Theology.
Never mind that he has flown planes and says this is much harder.
He's doing it because he cares about providing for his family.
Because he cares about me being at home with our children.
He gets home at 6, 7, 8, sometimes 9 pm.
Just enough time to play with the kids before bed...
speak words of wisdom and kindness to a needy wife...
and crash in bed for a few hours of sleep
(which is usually interrupted by a toddler or two)
before getting up to do it all over again.
Five days a week.
Sometimes six days a week.
And he hasn't even had a paycheck yet.
This job is unbelievable.
We can't believe that people actually do this for years on end.
But my husband is even more unbelievable. In a good way.
I am so proud of him.
I am so thankful for this man.
it is a hard job indeed!!! It's so great that you are surportive!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if he ever heads to the mills in our area (we have a few large lumber mills here) but if keith is ever in Longview and he needs a decent meal, a place to sleep for the night or anything before heading back home we would be MORE THEN HAPPY for the company... SERIOUSLY, anytime he is here in town he is more then welcome, just let me know!!!! I'm sure Matt would enjoy some company from an old fellow prairie aviation student.
Sweet post! I'm so glad you both are handling it with gratitude and grace. Praying for you both!
ReplyDeleteI am proud of Keith, too. I hope (and know) you verbalize these things to him! Or let him read your blog. Regardless, he is amazing. Yes. (And you can tell him I said so).
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