Morning Hike

Meet up with B and we hike down to his new/old house. Just about a mile, down the driveway and around on Upper Twin, and it'll be less than half of going straight cross country when he gets a trail hacked through. And he is a great hacker of trails. We studied his roof issues. The house is a small 'L' with a hip roof on each end and at the corner. He wants to raise the ceiling, which will involve taking out some structure that is load bearing, which means putting some temporary structure in place, then he would just start at one end and move the germane ceiling joist up to the new height, where it would become more of a collar-tie. I can see how to do it, and I explain to him how I would do it (much the same way he had imagined) and in what order. I visualize this kind of thing very easily, which I attribute to working for years with Herbert and Helen at the Cape Playhouse. Herbert was the best I've ever known at seeing how to get around a problem. It was a nice hike. Spitting snow, right at freezing, all the freshets flowing because the ground is saturated. On the walk back we talked about various books, then went over to his cabin for a mug of coffee and further discussion. It's always a treat to talk literature with him. Between us we probably read 600 books a year, with 25 to 40% overlap, so there's always something to talk about. Walking back to my house, I sat on the front porch of the print-shop and rolled a smoke, thinking about his roof, and realized I would add Hurricane Clips to all the rafters that would no longer be triangulated with ceiling joists, a cheap and simple solution to racking. And I might add some cross-bracing, above where it wouldn't be seen, just because I could. I actually vision this in three-space, more a habit than a capability, I always look at the way the load is carried. It might affect where I stand during the ceremony. Walking up the driveway with B, I don't often walk up the driveway with anyone, I was struck with the fact that we are both old men, we stopped to catch our breath; but we still do this, walk two miles, in freezing temps, to talk about a roof problem. He generously offers that there will always be a place for me there, when I can't achieve the ridge, and that there is an heating system with a thermostat. Fuck me nine ways from Sunday. If I had known there were thermostats, I would have bought into this a great deal earlier. Hot running water? You have to be kidding.