It’s No Secret, but it Really Does Help if I Take Smaller Bites

photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash

She asked me if I could fix the rotten trim on the exterior of her house. She’s alone now and the love of her life isn’t around to work his magic anymore.

And somehow, the sun keeps beating down on it, and the rain keeps seeping into it, and the paint keeps shrinking off of it, and the years keep passing.

She is overwhelmed. I get it.

But I am merely a retired shopkeeper and sometime writer. I don’t have any magic in my hands, and certainly, no carpentry skills honed by constant use over the years. When I have picked up a hammer and saw, I’ve usually been a helper, taking instruction from those who do have skills.

I may have attempted a few things on my own — sheetrock repair, laying a vinyl floor, even stripping a hardwood floor before refinishing it. But I promise you there was no magic — no great skill — involved.

But we’re talking about windows here!

Windows? I know how to look out of them at the world spinning on its way. While drinking my coffee. With a book in my hand. Sometimes, I yell at the unruly dogs through them. Mostly, I sit beside them and read.

I don’t have the slightest idea of how to replace a sill, or a sash, or even a casing. There are angles to get right, and…