Gutters at Twilight

It was a dark and stormy night, and-

No. I can't lie. It's February, and just about twilight, and I have the bright idea of taking my recently sprained ankle up and down a ladder for the purpose of cleaning my gutters in time for the impending Doomsday storm everyone on Facebook is sharing photos of right now. Photos EXACTLY LIKE THIS ONE:



So anyway...

I'm up the ladder cleaning a gutter, and my loyal offspring is demanding I come down and let him do it, before I hurt my ankle again. I'm hardly going to refuse an offer like that. I move the ladder to an easy spot, where I know the downpipe is always clogged up, and my strapping teenage son duly goes up there and cleans it out. When he's done, I go back up to clean a harder to reach area. That's when I see a rusted half metal pipe scrap sitting in the gutter. That doesn't need to be there. I'll just move it. I'll move that darn innocent looking rusted scrap of DOOM.

So I move it onto the roof, turn it upside down, and there's a nest crawling with paper wasps right there under my hand. Can you say heart attack? Flashing back to that time I accidentally stabbed a wasp nest with a pitchfork and got seen right off the premises by a swarm of outraged stingers, I slide down the ladder like Robin Hood, throw off my gloves, release my gutter-cleaning tongs into the wide beyond, and freak out at my offspring. He freaks out back, cos he was just up there. I freak out some more.

And speaking of Doom, I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE!



Happy Australian summer everyone!

PS My Dad moved the wasp nest off the roof today by sliding it along with a very long piece of pipe until it fell into the yard.

PPS My Dad is awesome...