We had a brief, but intense, thunderstorm this morning, during which I discovered the gutter/downspout on the high outside corner of the house is now completely clogged. It’s gone from squirting out the corner seam of the downspout, to waterfalling over the top of the gutter. That’s not good.
The pop-up storm moved away, and the air got all heavy and wet, and the sun came out. Pretty standard weather in KY in summer. I decided since the wind wasn’t blowing and the next round of storms seemed to be several hours off, that I would climb up on the roof and clean that darn gutter out.
Did I mention this is on the HIGH corner of the house, facing west? I’m not afraid of heights, per se, but even I get nervous when I’m dangling head first off the roof, 20 feet above a concrete patio. So, I asked Rob to help me get the ladder out, and to hold it while I was climbing up and down.
Rob helped me get the ladder up onto the deck, where it’s only 8 feet up to the roof. I had gotten my hands and knees onto the roof, when I suddenly realized my hands were burning. Not hot – BURNING. I stuck my foot back down onto the ladder, which Rob was supposed to be holding, and the ladder tipped over and nearly fell. I yelled, “ROB! You’re supposed to be HOLDING the ladder!” He mumbled back something about the ladder not being level, which it had been just moments before, and I yelled, “MY HANDS ARE BURNING!! FIX IT!!!!”
I knew I should have gotten Matt to help me. I did eventually manage to get off the roof, which must have been just about the temperature of lava, but my hands are burned.
And the gutter is still clogged.
I’ve got to go to the grocery tonight, maybe I’ll buy a gallon of ice cream and soak my hands in it. After all, ice cream makes everything all better, right? 
A few pictures, since I’ve been terribly remiss:
Kona, waiting for Larry to throw the frisbee.
Kona, fetching the frisbee, with Maya's help.
Matt helps me clean out the fountain.
The finished fountain. Same as it was, but cleaner.
Matt and his adoring fans.
This does not sound like a fun adventure. Thank heavens you survived and the ladder (with you ) didn’t come tumbling down.
Tom had a bad ladder incident in which he broke his ankle a few years ago!!! That was NOT fun for him!!!
And, yes, ice cream makes all things better!
Love,
L
PS I love your all’s fountain! Oooooh….pretty…me likie……