Facing Fears

Tuesday, July 19

I didn’t have many fears as a kid. I picked up the garter snakes, played flashlight tag in the dark, wandered around campgrounds with my sister, and laughed & screamed my head off on the tallest rollercoasters.

I’m not quite that fearless anymore. I have the common fear of heights – or rather, a fear of falling. While I’m okay being on tall things – mountains overlooks, tall buildings, the Grand Canyon – I don’t like being near the edges, being able to see right down the side. Clear parts in a floor, allowing the viewer to look straight down make me very nervous. Needless to say, I had some struggles when we went to the Kinzu bridge last summer. I was okay walking down the middle – until I got to the clear floor. Nope, not for me.

A side view of the bridge, a view from the over look, and the dreaded plexiglass-glass floor section.

Another way heights has been an issue is getting to the roof of our camper. I’m fine climbing the ladder, but have struggles getting up over the lip to the roof. So far Greg has done all the roof inspections and maintenance. But recently he needed more hands to help install a vent cover. Usually bathrooms have a vent with a cover that raises & lowers. Unfortunately they are not designed to prevent rain from getting in while you are using them. So we bought a special cover to go OVER the regular vent cover, which will let air in & out while blocking the rain. However, to install it we had to get the new cover, hardware, directions, drill & bits, screwdriver, and a light up on the roof. Oh, and me, too.

We decided to work on the installation while the rv was in the storage unit, which would keep the sun off of us. The roof is close enough that you can’t stand up, but for some reason, that helped me. So up & over I cautionary went, making sure to pay attention to how I got up, so I could reverse that to get down. I crawled around the middle of the roof, holding the light, taking some videos and staying away from the edge. I had to go back down to test the fan & make sure it opened & closed with the new cover over it. (It did.) Back up & over I went to help clean up & carry stuff down. I don’t know if I’ll be able to climb up & over with the rv out in the open. Luckily, Greg doesn’t mind – just another reason why he’s a keeper!