Every so often I do one of those things that not only remind me how old I am, but convince me that I am getting even older and that getting older involves a price of sorts. Helping a friend reroof his house is my most current example. The lesson came through in spite of the advance planning to do the "old guy stuff" and to serve as a support role with this project. There was a son, a son-in-law, a grandson, and two college friends of the grandson, so there was plenty of youth on the crew.

Yesterday after my day job, I worked until dark and only then did the crew take time for supper. This morning we went back at it and broke for a late lunch, when the rain came. We were fortunate, by that time, the ridge cap was in place; only trimming the gable ends remain.

Last evening, the homeowner and I cleaned up the tear off that the crew had simply dumped on the ground. That task involved lots of bending; I moreorless felt like a quadruped after three hours. Today I did additional clean up, cut the ridge cap, and was an on-call go-for. For old time sake, I did carry one bundle of shingles up the ladder; it was a lot harder than I remember or it is clearly no longer as easy as I remember. I was bushed by the time we finished our 3:00PM lunch, and I had packed up my tools and headed home. I will check back in tomorrow; hopefully the remaining crew members will have the gable ends trimmed. I can take care of whatever clean up remains and pack up my wheelbarrow and two extension ladders.

The weather cooperated nicely. There were a few sprinkles early this morning as a warning. We decided to work through to the end before breaking for lunch, which proved to be in synch with the weather and whoever decides that. The rain is most welcome. We have been in a very dry period for the past four to six weeks. I also washed my truck this past Thursday; that may have helped also. Scheduling a roofing job and washing one's truck within a 72-hour period may be an effective appeal for rain.

When I got home and had packed away the tools from the roofing job, I decided it was time to take the snowblower out of the garage and store it in the shed until this November. I haven't used it for at least six weeks or more, so I think I'm safe with this decision. The snowshovel and the snowscoop are on their hooks beneath the deck, so my back-ups are readily available in case of a late season snowfall. The lawnmower has now moved from the shed to the spot in garage most recently occupied by the snowblower. With this rain, I may be mowing the lawn before the end of the week. I don't keep records on this sort of thing, but I would bet I have never mowed the lawn during the month of April in the 26 plus years, I have lived in this area.

I came home from the job site with a black and blue thumbnail on my right hand and I am right handed. Also, I did not drive a single nail during the two day project. So how does that happen, one might ask, especially for one who spent very little time up on the roof. I was helping the grandson reinstall some fascia and soffet material that had been removed. I was holding the aluminum fascia in place so that it could be nailed. I got nailed. Well, both the fascia and I got nailed. We laughed about it, even though it stung.

Oh yes, one other task remains, that is, to return the extras from the project to the lumberyard for credit. There are 17 bundles of shingles, one bundle of starter strips, one roll of felt, and drip edge to be returned. That task is scheduled for next Saturday.