Snowbound

We got a dump of snow a couple days ago and thankfully warm temperatures and rain are quickly washing it away. Snow is not one of Bug's friends. He becomes almost house-bound when the white stuff falls. Most of the time it's turned to slush and washed away as quickly as it comes, but every once and awhile it sticks around. The snow its self isn't the problem, its the fact that this crazy city has no way of clearing it away. Most people don't own a shovel and the main streets are the only ones plowed. Not a good combination for a person in a wheelchair.
The first winter I cared for Bug we had a good snow dump that stuck around for about a week. The snow got shoveled from the sidewalk in front of his building and piled up on the grassy area between the street and the walkway. Bug and I had been out and about and when we returned I parked my car near his home. I got his wheelchair from the back of my car, assembled and hiked up over the mound of accumulated snow onto the dry sidewalk. I got Bug out of the passenger seat and too standing, but I wasn't sure how to get him over the heap of crystallized snow. Bug started to laugh and my grip was slipping. I was trying to turn him, but his feet were caught up on the snow. I think one of shoes even came off. With him laughing and me losing my grip, I started to laugh and all bets were off. I had to lay Bug down on the snow bank. He was shaking with laughter and I was trying to figure out how in the heck I was going to get him to his awaiting wheelchair.
Finally I came to Bug's head and got my arms around his chest under his armpits, then I used his feet dug into the snow like a cantilever and got him to standing. Then I lifted/dragged him to his seat. I was streaming with sweat and Bug's sweat pants were soaked from melting snow. Not one of our more graceful moments.
Once the weather has warmed up Bug will come to my place for visits. I moved to within three blocks or so of Bug's home. I had a very narrow area of choices in his neighbourhood, but cost of rent and proximity were paramount for me.
It's a pretty direct route to my apartment building. Except for two minor obstacles. One being a huge triangle of concrete that blocks the entrance to a street. There is no way over this for Bug and he has to go around which means driving into the middle of the blocked off street. Not the safest.
The other annoyance for Bug is that there are two intersections side by side near my home. The one button he can reach to activate the pedestrian crossing light, but the other one has been placed so high on the post he can't reach up to hit it with his fist. The button is actually chest high on me.
When Bug and I visited Berkeley we noticed that the intersection crosswalk signals had two buttons on each post. One was around tummy height and a second button at ankle height. This is brilliant for folks who don't want to take their grip off their walkers or it would work for Bug who could use the toe of his shoe to activate the crossing signal. We were really impressed by the thoughtfulness put into this design.
When Bug wants to come visit, he calls me and after about five minutes I'll go wait for him at the intersection to push the button. It's fun to watch him wheel down the sidewalk. He doesn't wear shoes when he's home alone; he needs his toes to push the buttons on the remotes for his TV and DVD player. Here he comes maneuvering his chair down the sidewalk, arms flung up for balance and his socked feet pointing forward as if directing where to go.
When he gets to me I tell him looks like an escaped mental patient in his socked feet. He laughs and says he is crazy.
We continue the short distance side by side to the front door of my apartment building.

Until the next time...