Daredevil Dad

It's that special time of year again, when I become a real life daredevil. Of course, this is completely against my nature. My general idea of daring-do is getting up off the comfy sofa in my living room.

So, once again, I put on my daredevil supersuit (an old San Francisco 49ers pullover hoodie), delved into the depths of our attic, busted out our ladders and prepared to put up our Christmas lights.

I would submit this may not seem like much of an ordeal to most folks. In fact, I remember the good ol' days when all I needed was a small ladder, a staple gun, and the lights. That was before we found our dream home that prominently features 20 degree roof slopes, and are so high I have to actually borrow an extremely tall ladder from my neighbor. And, no, I am too cheap to pay someone else to put them up.

Keep in mind - I'm not completely stupid here. I've replaced the staple gun with these white clips that slide onto the shingles. This helps reduce the likelihood of free falling from the highest peak of my roof. Still, being up that high with the wind blowing like it does during this time of year allows me to have several 'life flashing before my eyes' moments.

How I miss our first small home with the low shingles. You know, come to think of it, I guess I long to be poor again - even if it's just for one day a year.