November 5, 2020 Three days ago it was snowing, yesterday was 37 degrees, and today the high temp is 71 degrees, with a week of warm weather ahead. This is a true “Indian summer” (quite honestly, after all these years, I don’t know if it is still ok to use that term – I tried to search for a “replacement term” online and couldn’t really find one, so no offense intended to Native Americans, or anyone else who uses this brief halcyon period to joyfully embrace the sun and warmth – and finish up all possible chores – because as they say, “Winter is Coming”).
The big lift is being used by Bob L to access and fix the lightning gash on top of the tower, finally. The opening has been allowing water and critters inside for around 5 years, believe it or not, and we have been very concerned about the past (and current) interior damage from both. Our oft-stated goal has been to button up the exterior of the house before winter, and this is one of the last tasks to complete.
Today there was some big excitement in store for me, and that was a ride to the top in the lift! The painters have been great, very friendly and accommodating, and when I got the offer, I had a moment’s pause of “what am I thinking?” but then I hopped right in that cage and buckled on the harness. Bob, despite having parachuted out of army airplanes in his long distant youth (haha), thought I was kind of nuts but was right there to document it for our kids and my mom (who having skied the Zugspitze Glacier in her own middle age, would not be as horrified as you might think). Here is the start of my journey upwards, right before my phone freakishly decided to run out of storage space WHILE WE WERE ASCENDING! How does that happen?? Luckily, Rick the painter, who was operating the lift, whipped out his own phone to take some great pics from the top, which you see here. Thank you, Rick!! Here is Bob’s account of the trip to the top, where he demonstrates how I defy gravity and proves he needs camera phone instruction. 🙂
The horizon is lovely at the top. When we have more time and better access to the rooftop we will start to identify features. We have been told you can see various landmarks all the way to Portsmouth, but to be honest, we haven’t had the bandwidth yet to literally look at the view…. Oh my gosh, what a day!
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