gunhaus
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My brother just left my shop. With spring finally sprung around here his construction business is perking up, and he needed me to do a couple of repairs on some tools. We were chatting about how long winter hung around this year and inevitably the talk came round to an employee he had one year Named Leroy.
Leroy was from Arkansas. Somehow he had migrated to Michigan's UP early one spring. My brother had taken on a couple of big jobs Near Newberry, and Leroy had come around early on looking for a job. He was hired and turned out to be a barrel of laughs and a great worker. He loved beer, he was a home brewer as well some of the time, and since my brother and a few of his regular crew are all beer nuts as well, everyone got along great.
Summer came and began to wane into fall. Winter was coming along, and my brother told Leroy that he might want to stick a little money into some winter gear, as the job was gonna take them through likely till the next spring and a lot of it would be outdoors.
Leroy laughed and laughed at this. He was always telling the guys how much better things were in the south rather than up here in the north. The food, the culture, the beer, the weather, and it turns out in Leroy's opinion this applied to winter as well. He informed my brother, and everyone else on the crew that "Michigan Boys don't have a clue what winter is" he continued with, "Sure all ya'll get a little cold here and some snow, but it is a dry cold, and a dry snow, and a good coat and boots will block it right out. Now down where i run the ridges in Arkansas, we get REAL winter, and REAL cold. You take a day what gets down to 30-35 degrees, with a wet snow or cold rain, and a bit of wind and it would knock you great white north guys right to your knees! You'd be bed ridden the whole winter with the sniffles and chills."
Well, winter came in Michigan as it often does - All at once, in a great big hairy blast. My brother picked Leroy up about 6 am. It was about 15 degrees. The afternoon before had been sunny and 60. Leroy was shivering and cussing. Then it got windy. Nothing big, 40 or 50 mph. And it warmed up just a tad to about freezing, and that's when Lake Superior donated a little moisture to the party. Snowflakes about the diameter of a tea cup started to fall. LOTS of them, really close together. Work was a bust, and the forecast was for a couple of days of snowy fun, so the crew spent the day locking down the job site. tarping bare OSB, covering exposed materials, etc. Slinging big tarps covered in wet heavy snow in high winds is always a bit of fun! Leroy kept getting more and more and more sullen and quiet. Really out of nature. Then around noon or so, ma nature said, "If you think that sucks, try this" And the temp began to plummet. The good thing is the snow flakes shrunk in size. The bad news is they were converted into tiny icy pellets of wind driven stinging misery. By 4 pm it had dropped to about 10 degrees. The wind decided to quit loafing, and really began to howl. Lake Superior, not wanting to be left out, threw more water up into the jet stream. By 5 they packed it up and figured on a couple days off to let it wind itself down.
Now Leroy was a Blonde haired blue eyed fellow, with a fairly pale complexion. But My brother said he had taken on a combination of deep reds, and not so pleasant blues. With a couple of snow days in the offing, the rest of the crew immediately suggested BAR TIME!!!!! Leroy, normally the first to opt for bar time - Simply huddled in the front seat, shaking, and says, "Home Please".
They dropped him off, and went on about the weekend. On Monday they went to pick up Leroy, but he was no where to be found. His car was gone. The house he rented was empty. His phone was shut off. It was a week or so before anyone had a clue what happened when a local Sheriff turned up on the job site to inquire about Leroy. It seems that right after they dropped him off at home, and he had thawed a tad bit - Leroy had decided that he was entirely WRONG about Michigan winters. He made the immediate executive decision to get back to Arkansas at all cost. He sold his car - apparently to 4 different people, he sold all of his bigger stuff that would not fit in a duffel, he took the money, bummed a ride to the airport, and flew back to his beloved ridges.
We have no idea what ever became of Leroy. But i always like that story when it comes around!
Leroy was from Arkansas. Somehow he had migrated to Michigan's UP early one spring. My brother had taken on a couple of big jobs Near Newberry, and Leroy had come around early on looking for a job. He was hired and turned out to be a barrel of laughs and a great worker. He loved beer, he was a home brewer as well some of the time, and since my brother and a few of his regular crew are all beer nuts as well, everyone got along great.
Summer came and began to wane into fall. Winter was coming along, and my brother told Leroy that he might want to stick a little money into some winter gear, as the job was gonna take them through likely till the next spring and a lot of it would be outdoors.
Leroy laughed and laughed at this. He was always telling the guys how much better things were in the south rather than up here in the north. The food, the culture, the beer, the weather, and it turns out in Leroy's opinion this applied to winter as well. He informed my brother, and everyone else on the crew that "Michigan Boys don't have a clue what winter is" he continued with, "Sure all ya'll get a little cold here and some snow, but it is a dry cold, and a dry snow, and a good coat and boots will block it right out. Now down where i run the ridges in Arkansas, we get REAL winter, and REAL cold. You take a day what gets down to 30-35 degrees, with a wet snow or cold rain, and a bit of wind and it would knock you great white north guys right to your knees! You'd be bed ridden the whole winter with the sniffles and chills."
Well, winter came in Michigan as it often does - All at once, in a great big hairy blast. My brother picked Leroy up about 6 am. It was about 15 degrees. The afternoon before had been sunny and 60. Leroy was shivering and cussing. Then it got windy. Nothing big, 40 or 50 mph. And it warmed up just a tad to about freezing, and that's when Lake Superior donated a little moisture to the party. Snowflakes about the diameter of a tea cup started to fall. LOTS of them, really close together. Work was a bust, and the forecast was for a couple of days of snowy fun, so the crew spent the day locking down the job site. tarping bare OSB, covering exposed materials, etc. Slinging big tarps covered in wet heavy snow in high winds is always a bit of fun! Leroy kept getting more and more and more sullen and quiet. Really out of nature. Then around noon or so, ma nature said, "If you think that sucks, try this" And the temp began to plummet. The good thing is the snow flakes shrunk in size. The bad news is they were converted into tiny icy pellets of wind driven stinging misery. By 4 pm it had dropped to about 10 degrees. The wind decided to quit loafing, and really began to howl. Lake Superior, not wanting to be left out, threw more water up into the jet stream. By 5 they packed it up and figured on a couple days off to let it wind itself down.
Now Leroy was a Blonde haired blue eyed fellow, with a fairly pale complexion. But My brother said he had taken on a combination of deep reds, and not so pleasant blues. With a couple of snow days in the offing, the rest of the crew immediately suggested BAR TIME!!!!! Leroy, normally the first to opt for bar time - Simply huddled in the front seat, shaking, and says, "Home Please".
They dropped him off, and went on about the weekend. On Monday they went to pick up Leroy, but he was no where to be found. His car was gone. The house he rented was empty. His phone was shut off. It was a week or so before anyone had a clue what happened when a local Sheriff turned up on the job site to inquire about Leroy. It seems that right after they dropped him off at home, and he had thawed a tad bit - Leroy had decided that he was entirely WRONG about Michigan winters. He made the immediate executive decision to get back to Arkansas at all cost. He sold his car - apparently to 4 different people, he sold all of his bigger stuff that would not fit in a duffel, he took the money, bummed a ride to the airport, and flew back to his beloved ridges.
We have no idea what ever became of Leroy. But i always like that story when it comes around!
