We were watching the kids across the street decorating their house for Halloween. Their dad was on the step ladder putting up orange and black lights. At that time the micro manager said, "We're not putting up Christmas lights this year." That was it. The decision was made. Done! Over! Okay, I was told that if I wanted to live in this house I could not go up the step ladder.
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| And the ladder leans in |
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| Great window reflection! |
Now putting up Christmas lights here has been a tradition. We've had the same house since 1970. We've had the same set of lights since 1970. The lights have gone up in the same place since 1970. You get the drift. This is a well established pattern. Simple. Except for one thing. A step ladder is needed. Now the step ladder is really not high enough, so I have been standing on the very top of the step ladder to get the lights on at the peak. Complicating the matter is that one side of the ladder has to be on soil and the other side is on cement. There's usually lots of snow. Sometimes the ground is frozen and solid so there's a firm base. Sometimes the ground is only partially frozen and will suddenly give away.
So it was decided that the old guy would not go up the ladder any more to put up Christmas lights. It is risky. Step ladders aren't user friendly.
I have always been a risk taker. Now I realize that if I fell on the floor I might hurt myself and if I fell from the top of a step ladder it might be game ending. So I have happily come to a conclusion and made a decision.
Have you made any live changing decisions?
Yes, an important one. In spite of my love for it, I no longer eat salami. Just writing this makes me cry. But salami has turned on me and the price I pay for eating it has become too high.
ReplyDeleteOh! Oh! That would be tragic if it was beer!
Deletehooray! wise choice!
ReplyDeleteWell I have mixed feelings. I know you're right so thanks for the pat on the back.
DeleteI think you are so wise Red. We have kinda the same rule going around here too, though we have not been so diligent with the Christmas lights on our house but for other things. The point was driven home when my father-in-law was on his ladder, fell off it from the third step and broke his thigh bone. He's not allowed by his micro-manager either any more :) Thanks for stopping by, it's been fun reading about breakfasts and such. Which part of England is your wife from by the way? Hope you both have a great week ahead.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Hiawatha House. There comes a time when reason has to take place.
DeleteProbably a wise decision. How about hiring a neighbourhood kid to put the lights up, this year?
ReplyDeleteThere are all kinds of possibilities but the best one is to just get out of the game.
DeleteYes hire a neighborhood kid! That way you can still have lights...put a board under the ladder legs in the dirt!
ReplyDeleteWe usually don't decorate outside other than a wreath with lights near the door.
Nope no life changing decisions...we are contemplating one though...just read where shower heads harbor lots of germs and they become airborne ...so we will have to disinfect the shower heads or take baths:(
I use the board thing in the summer but in the winter there's too much snow to be bothered. Now that's a new one with shower heads.
DeleteI was about to suggest the same thing that Hilary said. :))
ReplyDeleteIt' easier to just give the whole thing up.
DeleteA difficult but sensible decision Red.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've had to make a few of these lately. I'm getting used to it.
DeleteI made the same decision about Christmas lights many years ago... and I am younger than you. :)
ReplyDeleteMy house isn't that high but some of these houses you need a good extension ladder.
DeleteIt sounds like the boss made a good decision. I was up on the roof clearing the eaves and thinking, how many more years can I do this?! 1970, you sound so much like my parents. The cottage was a shrine to 1962, Unchanged.
ReplyDeleteI always use the step ladder for my eaves because the house isn't that high. We did not plan to stay in this house. It just happened.
DeleteGood decision - there's always someone in the neighbourhood that would do that......but what if they fell off the ladder?? Put a bog ole Christmas Tree right in front of that window and put bird treats on it. It'll look nice and feed the winter birds, eh Bird Man. Micro-Manager made good decision.
ReplyDeleteHey, I've got my bird feeders covered and I have lots of customers.
DeleteThat's not a bad decision. Better safe than sorry!
ReplyDeleteOoh that's something my daughter would say!
DeleteIt is a right decission to know your limits. You don't have to avoid dangers, but you also don't have to look for them. You have enough other challenges, skating, cycling.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. My friend missed the last step on his ladder and fell heavily and broke his hip.
DeleteI have slowed on the decorations. In the last few years I didn''t even decorate indoors.
ReplyDeleteSome years we don't do much indoors. We didn't put up a tree last year.
DeleteGood decision, sir. If I lived near I would gladly put them up for you Red!
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks. It 's about how much do you impose on others. There's a topic for one of your blogs!
DeleteYes, it comes to every life that we have to finally decide when it's time to stop some risky behavior. That's skydiving for me. We lost a friend who fell from a ladder last fall and died right there. The MM is smart. :-)
ReplyDeleteSome of the most innocent of mishaps can be very serious. I'm sure all of us could name many like this.
DeleteYes. Forty years ago I came to live 450 miles from my previous home on a remote island in the Atlantic for two years. It's been a long two years.
ReplyDeleteI intended to stay one year in this town. It's now 45!
DeleteSmart man - and wife!
ReplyDeleteAnd you can just enjoy your neighbor's lights anyway!
Well, yes. Enjoying others lights is the way to go. The lights on houses here seems to be less common.
DeleteProbably for the best. My great-grandmother was in good health and died several weeks after a fall. Just not worth the risk.
ReplyDeleteOn a sunnier subject, it's amazing that you've been in the same house since 1970! It must feel almost as familiar as your own body at this point. I'm 18 and have nominally lived in the same place since I was born, but we migrate around throughout the year. Plus I went to boarding school and am now in college, so I'm not in the main house all that often.
Elderly people are fragile. I'll have to admit that. I didn't intend to live in this place for that long.
DeleteWe no longer put up our holiday lights either. It is just something to look back on. Glad you are not a stubborn crazy old coot.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that fewer people put up lights now. Some of the new houses are much higher than the little old bungalos.
DeleteThere are so many things I no longer do - or should no longer do! Just going down the 12 or so stairs to the pool, and another little inclined path down to the vegetable garden, can be dangerous when you forget you're not as agile as you used to be. I sometimes fear I could be lying down at the bottom of my 1.5 acre garden for days before anyone noticed - especially since I sometimes don't hear the phone ring if I'm outdoors (so people aren't surprised when I don't answer). I kept Allen's emergency button for a while after his death. But I just got sick of the hassle of listening to its beeped reminders whenever (as occasionally happens here) we had a brief power failure. Sometimes I think I should carry my mobile phone with me everywhere I go outdoors. But the truth is: I'm more likely to lose the phone than need to use it. For so many reasons, old age just SUCKS. No getting around it. But then, you must!
ReplyDeleteI think she made the right decision. As a matter of fact similar ones have been made here as my balance isn't what it used to be...:)
ReplyDelete