Imbolc                                                                           Settling Moon II

Mike just finished loading up all the boxes we’ve emptied so far, a pile three feet high plus three large boxes filled with collapsed book boxes. They’re headed off right now to Mountain Waste. He also carried my 50 inch plasma up the stairs. Carried it. I couldn’t even lift it. This guy is strong.

He typifies a core problem with our republic. Mike makes his living doing a variety of things that require physical strength and manual skills: fence building, hauling out appliances, and general hauling. Plus odd jobs. It’s hard to earn enough to live that way. But there are many people who love physical labor and find the idea of working inside abhorrent.

When asked how things were going, Mike told me. His 14 year old daughter has problems, not unusual, but difficult. He also had a stress test, which found an abnormality. An angiogram confirmed the abnormality but showed he didn’t need a stent. He’s had to change his whole diet. Tough to do, as most of us know.

Here’s the problem though. What does a guy who prefers physical labor do if unable to continue? A hard reorientation in mid-life if it becomes necessary. Also, hearts are expensive organs to manage.

We really have few places in our new, brave world for guys like Mike. Logarithmically reinforce that if you’re a black or Latino male or disabled. This hole in our economy may enlarge to become a hole in our collective heart since it will not go away.