Michigan has Two Seasons: Winter and Construction

A year ago, living in Ann Arbor as a student, I was directly across from a dormitory that was under construction. For 360 days, the life of my lease, I was woken up every morning by the veering of power tools and the crumblings of concrete outside my bedroom window.

I'm normally a morning person, but waking up two hours earlier than you anticipate to abrupt noises is ...irksome. I was irritated at the workers outside to say the least. The foreman that demanded that they run their tools so early. Hey! I'm sleeping here! It was inconsiderate of them. I was a student working two jobs and took my days off pretty seriously.

Almost a year later, I am that construction worker outside at six in the morning. For those of you who haven't been paying attention, this winter has been a liiiitle chilly. Ten hour days in negative temperatures without a lunch break can make you appreciate your days off more. Appreciate those few hours you have indoors. And warm showers. Oh, warm showers...

With the snow we've been getting, on my days off, instead of being woken by construction, the new noise here is snow plows and the scraping of metal on ice as the road crews go by. Instead of being annoyed by it now, I look out my window, say a little thank you to the crew workers and snuggle back down into my comforter.

Nothing can make you appreciate the people who are getting up at the crack of dawn like being one of those people who wake up at dawn.

So the next time you want to curse out the construction going on outside your window, just be glad it's not you.

Stay warm, everyone.