There’s nothing quite like it: being high up on a wall, just a rope to keep you from plummeting to the ground if your hands or feet slip. The rope and the person holding it.
I used to go indoor rock climbing occasionally when I was in high school. And I trusted my climbing partner. I knew when I said “falling” and let go of the wall, I wouldn’t hit the ground.
It’s hard to climb if you don’t trust the person belaying you. It makes you overly cautious. It keeps you from reaching out to that rock that you can probably sort of reach…. maybe. With her, I knew I could take the risks I wanted to. Even if I slipped, I was safe. (more…)
When you buy a house, you acquire a number of mysteries. I’m not talking about doors closing on their own or thumps in the night or unclaimed boxes in the attic. No, our house mystery came in the form of a single light switch.
Light switches themselves are not mysterious. Flip the switch, a light turns on. Not complicated. (Assuming you have enough bulbs.)
Except this switch–a switch in our bedroom that didn’t seem to control anything in our bedroom, oddly enough. We joked, as we flipped it on and off repeatedly, that somewhere a light was flashing like an S-O-S signal. Or maybe a garage door was flying up and down. Who knew? Not us, clearly. (more…)