Grampy's big adventure

The other day the idea popped into my head to tell this story in children's picture book format.  I can see the artwork in my mind, but could never draw or paint them myself. Nevertheless, it happened something like this.




Opening page:  Grampy and Mary Jane watching drips of water hit the kitchen floor under the skylight.  

Grampy, somewhat thick around the middle, glasses slightly askew squints at the ceiling with his good eye.

Mary Jane in housecoat and slippers, looks annoyed. 

Towels and pans to catch the drips. Rain streaks on the kitchen window. 

"Next dry day I'll get my ladder out and fix that leak." 

Sure you will look on Mary Jane's face - unnoticed by the old man.  

Next page:  Grampy inches his way over the edge of the roof, Mary Jane anchoring the ladder from below.  

Unsteady, uncertain, loaded caulk gun in hand, determined look on grampy's face, knees and elbows shaking just a little.  Thought cloud shows a picture of his forty-year-old self stepping on and off the ladder as if it were the escalator in the Northgate Bon Marché. 

Next page:  Repeat of the first page.  Confused look on grampy's face, vexed look for Mary Jane, umbrella and duck boots. 

"What happened to you getting up there and fixing the flashings last August?" 

Chagrined look on grampy's face.

Towels and pans to catch the drips. Dark streaks of rain on the kitchen window. 

Next Page:  Same scene as page two, Mary Jane steadying the ladder, grampy teetering at the top, this time unable to get his right leg, stiff from a knee injury to swing over the edge of the ladder so he could step onto the roof.  Twelve feet to the ground looks like a mile to the old boy.

Mary Jane texts her son Danny who comes the next day and easily gets on the roof, fix the leaking.  Save the day.

Next page:  Or not.  Back to page one.  Thought balloon over grampy's head - got to get up there myself and have a look -  

Next page:  Grampy is in his bed, thought balloon overhead in which he strings a safety line from the hose spigot on the far side of the house over the peak and down to the top of the ladder.  

something to steady my balance getting off the ladder ...  

Next page: Grampy  on the roof, sticky black goo in the caulk gun covering every possible seam between the metal roof panels and the flashings around the skylight.   

Contented look on the old man's face.  Tar on hands and pants. can't leak now, no where for the water to get in ...

Next page: Grampy is perched at the edge of the roof on his way down. Owl eyes in fear, one hand on his safety rope unable to get his stiff old body safely onto the ladder.  Getting up is one thing, stepping out over the abyss onto the top of the ladder is something else. 

what if I can't get back down?

That's when grampy sees his life unfolding in picture book format.

Next page:**  The kindly firefighter carries grampy down the ladder like rescuing a cat out of a tree.

Last page:  Grampy leans back in the rocking chair on the porch, reading a story to the grandkids.  In the background, Dan puts grampies beloved ladder onto the top of his car.  Take it away before the old man hurts himself.

**last two pages fiction.

In real life, after a long moment when a call to 911 was considered, I managed to get myself back to the ground safely, Dan hasn't taken away the ladder yet.

Next day in torrential rains page one repeated itself.  Drip on my head while making my sandwich for work.  Problem yet to be solved. 

Back in the day, we had a product called Atco Wet-Lap.  Stick to the deck even in a driving rain.  Loaded with asbestos and gosh only knows what other noxious chemicals, mostly likely outlawed long ago, but I wish we had some now.