Tuesday, February 10, 2015

My Heroes

They tied ropes to trees, donned helmets, buckled into harnesses, set up a sixty- foot ladder, and climbed up to the roof. Walked up the front, down the back, with tools dangling from belts. For twenty or thirty minutes we heard the sounds of ice dams being broken into smaller bits. Snow flew off the roof mixed with thick ice.

Soon the drips, caught midstream by nothing more to feed on, slowed down and stopped.

I watched three men walk backwards down the ladder, unbuckle themselves, roll up the heavy rope, and, like magicians or owners of Russian Nesting Dolls, fold the ladder into itself.

" Did you get all the ice dams."
"Yes."

I wanted to ask, but didn't, " Do you ice climb mountains?"

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