Finally, I’ve decided to get pro-active – and smarter – about winter safety. Falling on ice is getting boring and dangerous; I want to shovel snow rationally, I need better shoes for walking on ice. I need a guard rail to lean on when stepping on steps with black ice on concrete.
By Saturday, I’ll have all of those things in place. Time to get pro-active.
Phase one was my new battery-powered snowblower – a guy thing in some ways – that I love to use, and that works well. The blower also eases the heart-shoveling issue.
It enables me to contribute without unduly straining my heart, the subject of expensive but successful restoration work this year.
The next was Merrill ice gripper pull-one, which I have already found to be dramatically better than any other shoe I’ve worn up here. The Merrill design replicates the best snow tires; it grips and grabs on ice and makes me feel very steady.
Now, nobody can bitch at me about my heart and snow, and I might live longer.
And Saturday, our gifted handyman and carpenter Jeff McQuerry is coming over in the morning to build a guardrail for me to hang onto when I stop on the ice that can gather on our concrete steps in winter.
I’ve to fall there a few times as well as on the slate rocks below. Maria is pointing to the spot where we need the guardrail; I texted it to Jeff to figure out how to do it.
Ice is a part of life up here, and climate change – switching from warm to freezing all the time – has made the ice problem a lot worse. Staying upright, I’ve learned, involves balance and good boots.
I want to be active and engaged on the farm, which means changing and thinking and planning.
I’ve had enough surgeries this year, and I won’t be of any use to Maria or the farm if I have a heart attack or break a leg.
I don’t use aging as an excuse to downsize or retreat from life; I am learning how to use it to plan, think and minimize the risks of growing older on a farm with animals in upstate New York.
Breaking a hip or leg can disrupt life fairly radically, and there are many ways to do it. I’m improving the odds, not promising miracles. Jeff comes Saturday morning.
Great idea Jon! You can’t be too careful.
Our landlord recently replaced the four poured concrete steps and landing up to our bungalow, adding a spiffy black aluminum railing which makes it SO much safer for us and any visitors. We didn’t even have to ask her, but I think she saw me and my sister struggling as if walking on eggshells! 🙂
Thank you, Jon, for being proactive and showing us how to do it. My Dad would have lived longer and in less pain if he had been willing to to prevent many of his injuries.
Jon, I’ve lived in the country for thirty three years now. I can only speak for myself as a female not able at my age to push a snowblower, but having a snowblower and someone to push it, is essential to surviving in the country. Trackers are another thing, which you’ve acquired now…and thinking consciously about where we put our feet in winter in the country, when ice can lie beneath a layer of snow all winter, is essential. That’s not to say I haven’t come acropper (sp?) in a fight with our wheelbarrow two winter’s ago. We heat by wood as you and Maria do, and I was backing up a heavy load of wood in the wheelbarrow it took exception to what I was trying to do and flipped me on my back, knocking the wind out of me. My solution: a Gorilla Wagon. You have to keep one step ahead of Mother nature in the country if you’re going to survive in old-er age.
Sandy Proudfoot
I had handrails installed for my back steps last summer and I am delighted to have them. I feel much safer going up and down the steps now, even without ice. They are a good investment.
The guard rail will be excellent, for both you and Maria. Glad you’re getting safer and safer!
Having worked in home care as a Physical Therapist, part of my job was to assess home safety and make recommendations. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to convince people to install railings along side steps. Often the most persuasive method was to point out the liability of being sued if someone fell and was injured. But the real reason was to safeguard the homeowners safety.
Thanks Jean, rail is coming Saturday