On Call

March 13, 2014
Almost 28 months

Rush Hour at the Canyon

I'm the wife of a National Park Service Paramedic, SAR (Search and Rescue) guy, and Firefighter.  Which means I live, eat and breathe the happenings of Grand Canyon National Park. A fire? A motor vehicle accident? A heart attack? Somebody lost on the trail? I am one of the first to know.  News spreads like rapid fire in a small, tight community like ours.

Baked good are also shared in the neighborhood.  We baked banana chocolate chip walnut muffins.  Colter is an excellent taste tester.

It's 2:30 am. And for the second night in a row I am up at this hour watching my hubby donning his uniform to take on the task of caring for those who call 911 at this hour.  Tonight happens to be a woman in labor with her fourth child. This has the possibility to be good.

The sound of his phone ringing always makes me jump no matter the hour.  It's inevitable that I won't be falling back asleep anytime soon.  That's what you get when you live where you work. The EMS (Emergency Services) Station is a half mile away.  CJ's never really off duty.  I can think of a handle of times off the top of my head where my husband has been called into work on his day "off".  I suppose that is why we often leave the Park on his "off" days.

I suppose that's the fun of it: working in an industry that never sleeps.

Me? I hear Colter cooing in the other room after the roar of the truck as it pulled away. It's likely I'll have to rub his back and let him know Daddy had to go to work. My son knows this routine all too well. He just likes to be sure he wasn't left behind.  Can you blame him?

My first, "Hey, Mom!"  Moment.

I let Owen out of his crate and he curls up against my legs. We've been here before. I bet he secretly enjoys when Dad leaves in the middle of the night- this dog would never pass up an opportunity to snuggle for a few hours.  80 pounds of dog sure takes up a great deal of our queen-size bed.

As my heart rate slows back down after the heart wrenching volume of the ringing set it off (someone forgot to turn the volume down....again), I'm saying a little prayer that my hubby gets to assist in the delivery a healthy baby tonight. I suppose you may think that's a bit odd. It's all part of being on call. If you're going to drag my man out of bed, it better be for something worthwhile. Call me jaded. That's just the truth.

Though he may not admit it at 2am, in CJ's 8 years as a medic he has always wanted to deliver a baby.  So despite 2 hours of sleep last night and 3 hours tonight, he'll take the call.  And hope that's it is worth it.

A little slice of heaven from my kitchen window.

Meanwhile, I'll write a blog on my iPhone and pray for sleep to overcome me.