Email: "A pillar of iron"
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MIKE GILCHRIST IN THE TOLEDO CHRONICLE

I caught some flack from a couple readers regarding the way I ended my column last week: “If God’s intent is to steel one by life’s experience, then I am a pillar of iron.”

Relax, would ya! I was not positing myself as any pillar of the community or anything of the sort. Instead, it was merely a tiny play on words.

Maybe the term “to steel” is what caused the confusion. The way I used the term was as a transitive verb meaning to make hard, strong, or obdurate; strengthen. Finding a place in our vernacular from Middle English, this is a term with which most of you should be familiar.

The twist was that to be steeled by life’s experience, you could become a pillar of iron. It wouldn’t have read as well if I had said you could become a pillar of steel. It just wouldn’t have flowed as well.

What is steel? It is a hard, strong, durable, malleable alloy of iron, usually containing small amounts of carbon; hence the connection. I used the term as a quality suggestive of this alloy, especially a hard, unflinching character.

I didn’t say I was a pillar of bronze, which would have meant I was elevating my character to that of an Olympic god or something. I didn’t say I was a pillar of salt either, but let’s not go there right now either; you biblical scholars might read a “lot” into that.

A pillar is a slender, freestanding support or column. I might be that; although when I see my profile in the mirror after my shower I don’t see a slender column.

A pillar can also be defined as one who occupies a central or responsible position. Since I am in fact your weekly columnist in this space, perhaps I am a pillar (column) of this newspaper? You be the judge.

In any event, suffering through this winter has made me a tad more hard bitten, and “steeled” me for what may come.

This winter has been hard on both animals and people. Prolonged foggy days created hoarfrost, or alternatively, rime (or rhyme) on everything. The ice crystals were spectacular on trees, wires and parts of the house.

While driving into town on one of those particularly frosty mornings, I noticed a group of cows all bunched up in a field. They were covered with hoarfrost. They looked like frosted buffalo. They were just standing there; not grazing, not moving. From the warmth of my vehicle it was easy to see this was a miserable situation for the animals.

Outside animals are not the only ones suffering this winter. Many people have become housebound this winter. Black ice under the all too frequent snowfall has made walking in many places treacherous. Many of our senior citizens have become prisoners in their own homes. Yes, the electricity has stayed on here, so they are warm in their homes, but many have decided not to venture out for fear of falling, getting stuck or worse.

I have been suffering from “cabin fever” this winter. For some reason I feel closed in by fog. When it happens for days on end like it has this winter, I feel trapped and find it more difficult to breath; it makes me anxious; classic claustrophobia. And I can make my way to my vehicle and escape the cabin; others are not able.

Please call on your elderly friends and make sure they are doing okay. Offer to go to the store for them or bring them things they might need. Maybe even offer to provide door to door service and pick them up so they can do their own shopping.

Make sure you bring your pets in and that your neighbors are doing the same. Cold is one thing, but cold and humidity are another.

The other morning I took Elaine to work in the Jeep. It had been blowing all night and the roads leading to town were drifted in. We blasted through a couple of the drifts and made it to town. After my usual “in town” rituals, I started towards home.

It took me way too long to get home that morning. First, a good intentioned snowplow operator had pushed snow all the way across the road, in effect creating a barrier and closing the road on H Ave just south of Fairview Church where the blacktop on 300th street ends. I had just been through there going the other ways minutes before.

I turned around and tried going back out to highway 30. That way was blocked by a stuck car. At this point there was no good way for me to get home. I had a capable vehicle, but obstacles blocked my way.

I decided to try and blow through the four-foot pile of snow blocking my most direct route home. The snow was so light and fluffy so I had no problem creating a path through that barrier. Unfortunately, there was yet another vehicle stuck in a drift about 50 yards down the road.

I pulled out my shovel and attempted to free them from the drift. Unfortunately one side of the vehicle was also in the ditch. Our best efforts could not free that vehicle. It was decided that calling a wrecker was the best solution.

After about 45 minutes of driving this way and that, I finally made it home.

Please don’t arbitrarily close off roads with piles of snow to keep us from using a particular route. Some of us have capable vehicles.

If God’s intent is to steel us by our experiences, then perhaps I am a pillar of rhyme.



Until next time—



In to the Wind and this column are copyright 2010 Mike Gilchrist. Readers, feel free to contact me at mike@aweiowa.com via email, or write to me at P.O. Box 255, Toledo, IA 52342

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