MY GUTTER HELMETS: No More Clogged Gutters
As a life-long hiker, I must confess that I am not crazy about heights, edges and steep exposed places. On ladders, I suffer vertigo. Although I continue to hike in spite of my fears, I am giving up the one bothersome task (or asking others for help) of cleaning my gutters. With the proximity of tall trees to my home and prevailing westerly winds, my gutters and downspouts fill at least four times a year with spring oak tassels, summer leaf cuttings from the gypsy moths, the fall leaf drop from maples and the continuous leaf drop from the oak trees which shed all fall and winter. This nuisance has all ended with the recent installation of high tech “Gutter Helmets” (see brochure picture). I’ll report back in a year to tell you how this has all worked out. Meanwhile, I will continue hiking even though I do occasionally encounter a steep slippery ladder on the trail.
Therapy
Hiking with my son is inexpensive therapy. I’m home after a two-day hiking trip with my son to the Adirondacks of New York State. On our first trip into a frozen pond, half into and half out of our snowshoes, my son found a child’s life preserver. Donning it, he posed for this picture. He is my therapist, lots of goofy stuff and laughs, and he doesn’t charge for his services.
CLOWNS
This is my second BLOG under my new Articles by Topic “Second Chances”. How many of you have been given second chances, opportunities and people making profound differences in our lives?
I belong to a group of hiking and snowshoeing enthusiasts called the “Clowns”. Our origin goes back many years, described in my story “Walking With Clowns” in my first memoir “Hiking Out”. This year we just celebrated our 45thannual winter “Clown” snowshoe trip. Our members have changed over the years, with the addition of sons, grandsons, son in laws, friends, the moving of members out of state, and the sad loss of two of our members to cancer and heart disease. At every meeting of “The Clowns” we pause to celebrate the lives of our departed friends. Some of us owe our ability to do these hikes, and even our lives, to the mobility and life saving advances of modern medicine. For me, as one of the founding members of the “Clowns”, I think of it as one of my “Second Chances” in life. Shortly after the group’s founding, I fell into a deep depression. Over the years, my membership in this group has been a source of strength and salvation. As I say often, “Hiking helped save my life!” The photograph is from this year’s Saturday snowshoe hike. I’m the one in front with the hunter orange cap and the red and gray parka, accompanied by my fellow “Clowns”.