Boardman Country

The weekend was, well…eventful.

No, not because my mom, who lives next door had a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) Thursday and had to spend that night and all day Friday in the hospital.

Not because I had committed to having my disabled sister Susan here for Saturday, Sunday and today.

Not even because after having committed to the latter, I realized I had to be at my daughter’s graduation ceremony  on Sunday afternoon right before needing to be at church to run a choir rehearsal.

Actually, the most invigorating event of the weekend took place Friday night shortly after I had climbed into bed.  It was about 9:30 when Dad called to wonder if, since he’d been having quite a painful time with one of his feet, I’d have a little time Saturday morning to help him figure out why he had water dripping from his bedroom ceiling. After quizzing him a little about how much water was coming through the sheet-rock and getting a fairly alarming response, I took the long way and was at his front door in about 15 seconds.

Entering the upstairs master suite and feeling water splashing on me from the top of his TV set, I immediately scanned the room for towels and started adjusting the three or four buckets he’d already set out.

Shortly, I was climbing the drop-down ladder into the walk-around attic above the bedroom.  The light was on and revealed no less than five rafters with water trickling down them, all contributing to a goodly-sized pond located directly above…yes…his TV, his STB and other things that plug into electrical outlets!

I’m thinking, “Sure Dad, I’d be happy to come help you tomorrow some time!”  Not!

Obviously, the breach point had to be found now so I continued up via the wobbly six-foot step-ladder to pop the hatch accessing the flat-roofed section at the tip top of the Victorian-style house.

Had it been daylight, clear-skied and breeze-free, I’m certain I would have appreciated the view of Puget Sound from atop the 30 foot structure.  Unfortunately, none of those conditions existed.

It was dark, pouring down rain and the true source of the problem was blowing by at about 25 miles per hour, occasionally gusting to, well…let’s just say we were having a storm.

One quick peek through the hatch and I could see that the wind had caught the edge of the torched-down section of roof and had literally folded it back onto itself exposing about twelve square feet of sheeting to the elements.  I climbed out onto the roof and flopped the errant section back into place, found something nearby to hold it down and hurried to the basement to find a tarp and something with which to secure it.

Before I knew it I was back on the  roof and (as my readers have mostly come to expect) an old, old Mary Poppins song had made its way to the front of my brain:

Let’s go fly a kite

Up to the highest height

Let’s go fly a kite

And send it soaring…

The bright blue 15 x 20 foot tarp yanked and roared and indeed attempted to soar numerous times during the course of the next hour or so as I systematically tied lines to the four corners and tied heavy things to the other end of each line and tossed those heavy things down to Dad so he could anchor the flapping beast to something low and solid.

At some point, we were victorious and I descended the step-ladder, the fold-down ladder and the stairway for the last time.  I think it was about 11:00.  The TV was no longer shedding water.  The wet towels were in the laundry.  My Saturday was still intact.  Back to bed. 

Did I mention Saturday’s earthquake? 

You’re in Boardman Country!

Make yourself at home,

Brad

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Tags: bedroom ceiling, breach point, buckets, choir rehearsal, electrical outlets, foot step, foot structure, graduation ceremony, little time, painful time, puget sound, rafters, saturday morning, saturday sunday, sister susan, step ladder, sunday afternoon, tip top, transient ischemic attack, victorian style