I had a TODO list today that was mostly related to yard work, but included the item:
- check the rain gutters
This afternoon’s rain storm was something we do not usually see in this area. I was working in the yard and about to head to the hardwood store before they closed for some materials when it hit. As I was leaving, I noticed that my back rain gutter (100 year old house less than a mile from the U), was stopped, bending from the weight of the water, and draining all the water into a window well, outside my basement office window.
I spent the next 20 minutes grabbing ladders, buckets, and trowels and getting in place to clean the clog, then scoping out the water in the window well, in the nick of time. The storm was SO heavy, it was literally like doing yard/project work in the shower. I frequently could now see through the rain water running down my face.
I’m not going to say that there was not a LOT of stress, irritation, and swearing, but at some point, it turned from a near disaster to a sort of refreshingly cool adventure. I was so soaking wet, I could simply not try to go back into the house, and as all my other gutters were now suspect, and the ladders were out, I spent the entire storm cleaning all my gutters, and then cleaning up the resulting mess in the yard.
I won’t ever sign up in advance, to do this again, but I’ll know next time if it happens, that sometimes, a seeming disaster, can turn into an unusual adventure.
Edit to add: that was one hell of a storm. I’ve lived all but 2 or 3 years of my nearly 7 decades within a mile of the U, and I can count on one hand the number of those I recall. Please sign me up for many more!
