I go back to work today after 10 days of vacation.
Not that I didn't work over my vacation. I got a lot done around the house, as you probably know. Started repairing the driveway. Got a good start but ten bags of asphalt got the job half done. I have to wait until payday to get more. I'm still sore but then again...
Climbed up onto my roof yesterday. Scary experience for all. While the top is flat, getting there was very steep. I might be sore from that too. Got a nasty contusion on my shin from crawling up and down what had to be a 75 degree angled roof. And I do mean crawling. The highlight was when I went to put my foot on the first wrung to get down off the roof onto the relative safety of the ladder, there was no way I was planning on trying to get lowered to start on the second wrung, the cuff of my pant leg snared the top of the ladder side. So my left foot was flat on the wrung with part of the ladder up my pant leg and there was no room to put my right foot unless I turned to face out from the ladder and I was having trouble getting my foot up high enough to get it free...
I could almost hear my guardian angel sigh. Leave it to me to get into a situation you would only find in a Vacation movie...
I survived and got down safely, obviously. Probably mostly due to fervent prayer from the family. The roof is patched with tar now. I got all the way up there with a brush in my back pocket and used a rope to get the can of tar patch up next to me, no way I was going up that roof with the can in my hand or even mouth. I think I grabbed the edge of the roof with my teeth once when I started skidding backward on my ascent.
You home repair specialists know whats coming next. I needed a putty knife, not a brush. IT LOOKS LIKE A PAINT CAN! OK?
So, my family finds a putty knife, actually a paint scraper but it worked.
While waiting for them to find this stuff, I took the time to do something which, I think, I have become known for. I made the best of a tenuous situation. I cracked jokes, my personal stress reliever. I scanned the neighborhood. I looked at the clouds and the sky and the sunlight on the trees. It looked like rain was on its way but I wasn't concerned about that. Sure that would make the descent problematic but that was in the future. I had enough problems for now.
The work on the roof was easier than the preparation and clean up. I didn't realize I had hurt my leg until I went to shower and saw the bleeding. Adrenalin can be a wonderful thing.
I couldn't have done this alone. I am afraid of heights. My head gets tight and my spine starts to vibrate. A panic lurks in my head ready to pounce on every nasty danger...
I hope the wind doesn't pickup...
The extension ladder felt like it would snap in half and the incline of the upper roof...
And my family telling me I didn't have to if I thought it too dangerous. I did feel it was very dangerous. My brain was screaming for me to give up.
But I couldn't live with that. I wanted to try harder and defeat these fears and do the job. I could do it. I knew it could be done. People do stuff like this all the time.
And I didn't want to give up in front of my son who is at that age where the stuff I do in front of him will become parts of who he is. I wasn't reckless. I thought things through. I took my time. And I prayed alot. I'm sure he heard me reciting the 23rd Psalm on my way down to the ladder...
I didn't do it. I had a lot of help, mostly heavenly, to complete the job.
Proof you say?
As we started taking down the extension ladder, rain began to fall. Good thing I hadn't worried about it. It was already taken care of...
HAND!
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