Up on the Rooftop

When Cheryl and I were on one of our first dates, we were walking in a Las Vegas parking garage, on the 4th or 5th floor. Cheryl was being silly and ran toward the railing to look out over the edge. I panicked and grabbed her belt to pull her back, and her belt snapped open and there I was standing with her belt in my hands, babbling at her like a crazy person. I did this because I am so afraid of heights I cannot think straight.

I've been dreading the day when I would need to climb up on top of the pagoda's roof. I tried to do it last week but chickened out. Stepping from the ladder onto the roof seemed like an impossible challenge. And then how would I ever get back on the ladder? Yesterday I built some scaffolding just so I wouldn't have to step off from a flat surface. That's how scared I am.


But the scaffolding wasn't quite enough. I put my 2-foot step ladder up there just so I wouldn't have to make a big step up. Pathetic.


By this morning I had attached all the roof boards that I could while standing on the scaffolding. I slithered up on the partial roof, hugging the boards with my entire body so that the wind wouldn't toss me off (there's no wind today). I attached a few more boards in this really uncomfortable pose.

Then somehow I found a switch in my brain and turned it off. I sat up straight, and everything was OK.


I got the rest of the boards on pretty quickly, at least on this side. And I actually had fun doing it.


Now I have to do the side with no scaffolding... Crap.