A Roof over Our Heads

As I look out my window and see the huge amount of snow and forming icicles, I am reminded of some of the large snow storms we had back in New England. Like any school aged kid, we hoped for snow days too, so we could take full advantage of the freshly fallen snow. If notification came in the evening, the better we liked it because we could maximize our outdoor activities, starting the night before. However, it wasn't all just fun and games. We had the usual shoveling assignments, starting with my father's office, the house, and then the elderly neighbors. We couldn't accept money from them either. It was the start of the work for food program, as I like to call it.

If we had a particularly large snowfall or series of storms, we were responsible for the sun parlor roof too. My father always worried about this one because of possible leaks, and it was flat. Once we had everything else shoveled out, it was time to tackle the roof job. We either climbed out the window or used the drain pipe, like in "The Sound of Music". We'd carefully peel the snow off the roof and throw it into a single pile off the back. We made somewhat of game out of it. However tedious this was, we all knew that there was a reward at the end, play time. It all started when the snow was just about cleared off when we began daring each other to jump. "You go first. No you.", we'd say. Finally, one of us would take the leap of faith into the snow pile sinking up to our waists. Fortunately, the "survivor" would report that it was great, and one by one we'd jump 'til the cows came home, or at least Dad.

The expression, many hands make light work, surely applied here. Getting all of this done was a heck of a lot easier because we shared the responsibility. In the end, we had all the fun in the world and then some, but perhaps most importantly, we always had a roof over our heads. Geronimo!