My writing sabbatical of late was caused by a chain of events that included needing a new computer, and then a new wireless router and various other technical complications. The start of this chain of events? One terrible night.Â
On said night I snuggled into bed looking at the clouds brewing outside my window and listening to the rumbling thunder of a building storm. Spring means coming warmth, and here in the Midwest nothing says “Spring is Here!” like thunderstorms. Therefore, I fell asleep with warm weather on my mind and a smile in my heart. And was rudely awakened a mere 25 minutes later by a collection of terrible noises including (but not limited to) the strongest wind I’d ever encountered, children screaming, baby crying, and more. Our locked front door being slammed open by the force of the wind and everything in our house seemed to be shaking. And before we could even get everyone gathered and down to the basement, it was over. The aftermath? A variety of damage around the farm, and the need for a new roof on our home.
A romantic date night with my husband (who has previously worked on a roofing crew and therefore felt confident that we could takle this project) found us at Home Depot purchasing shingles, tar paper, drip edge, starter roll and various other things that were previously not in my vocabulary. And this past weekend was a whirlwind of activity with a roofing crew of friends and family. Our good friend and groomsman from our wedding, Chad, even travelled across the state to help out and lend his expert guidance. We had not seen him for quite a few years, so his presence added an exciting element to the adventure.
Overall, the weekend was a noisy blur of scraping shovels, staple and nail guns popping, air compressors charging, circular saws whirring (and falling off the roof…) and men grunting and laughing. I would even venture to say that, “A good time was had by all.” We couldn’t be more grateful for such fun and capable help!
On Sunday it was just Matt and Chad – so guess who else got to help! I aquired a massive sunburn and some new technical skills. Put a nail gun in my hand and watch me go now!! I’m sure my husband spent most of the day cringing…
However, Saturday was cool and cloudy, perfect weather for working on the roof. We had plenty of help, so most of the time I was able to sneak over to an undisturbed corner along with the super duper zoom on my camera and slip (hopefully mostly unnoticed) into stalker mode. It is not very often that one is able to observe that mysterious animal, man, in his natural element such as this:
