Put a Lid on It

We got a new roof put on the house yesterday. It was just not enjoyable at all to have to fork over such a large chunk of our dwindling savings for something that I really don't notice very much. I know, I would notice it quite a bit if it was raining on my head, but still a new roof just isn't my idea of fun.

I felt all gross yesterday because I didn't take a shower. The roof guys got here pretty early, and I just felt weird about showering while there were all these strange men crawling all around outside. Maybe that's paranoid of me but that's how I am.

At one point in the morning the doorbell rang and it was a man from the roof crew asking to use the bathroom. I told him no, because I really didn't want to be letting these guys in the house, and because Jay, the project supervisor, had told me that I didn't have to do that when we met with him earlier.

Jay is a very large man who wears a bright orange and black jacket. He came to the door and asked me if I wanted him to take pictures of the roof while they were working on it. I couldn't imagine why I would want pictures of that, but since he was asking I figured that must be a standard procedure for insurance purposes or something. I figured that I could at least share them with my uncle Tom who is retired from the roofing industry, in case he had an interest.

It was nerve-racking, to say the least, being in the house with all that stomping and hammering going on. Poor Missy the cat was beside herself, rushing all around and meowing pathetically. I wished that I could explain to her what was happening. Then I found out that Kendrea, who lives across the street, had to listen to her dog Tucker barking in unison with the hammers all day. Even worse!

Later in the day another neighbor, Gretchen, sent me a message that she liked the new color of the roof. I realized that she probably notices our roof a lot more than I do since she can see it from the windows of her house. I'm glad that she gets some enjoyment out of this!

I sat down at the kitchen table to have a snack and noticed one of the workers walking through the back yard into the woods. At first I wasn't sure what he was doing but then I figured it out. Ew! I averted my gaze. My fault for not letting them into the house, I suppose.

That happened one more time and then I saw the black and orange of big Jay heading back there. Not you too Jay! I was about to lose all respect when he stopped short of the woods and looked down at our little frog pond. He spent kind of a long time looking in there, and I watched him go get a stick and then poke around a bit, just like all the kids do. Then he looked up and shouted to his crew "There's like five frogs in there! I counted them!" He had such a look of delight on his face that I just had to smile. A great big kid. I'm glad that he got to enjoy that.

Finally the roof was complete. We handed over the check and Big Jay gave me the pictures. I thanked him and then he told me that's a new thing he's doing for the customers, we're the first. I don't know what anyone else will do with their roof pictures but I do kind of like mine. So I'm posting them here for you to enjoy:

This one shows the view of the lake from our roof, (and part of the newly fertlized woods)

And here's the view of Kendrea's backyard from up high. Too bad it didn't capture Tucker out there barking, that would have been cute!


Now that it's over I can relax. I am glad that we were able to get this done. Not everyone these days even has a roof over their head. I am going to enjoy knowing that I have a nice new one.