Up On a Houstop

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"This is what you get for being skinny," Jeff said as I stepped onto the very top of a wobbly, wooden ladder, flopped my chest onto the pitched roof, and looked for something to grab. With nothing in sight, I improvised a little. I got finger under the corner of a shingle, pried it up (to get a better grip), and pulled myself up and over the gutter. Amazingly, the shingle held and I was soon off of the ladder and onto the roof over Sean and Mary's foyer. From there, it was a simple matter of opening an unlocked window and climbing into the attic. Overall, it was an unexpected end to a busy Saturday.

For our fourth and final wedding this year, we were back in Athens. This time, we stayed with our friends, Sean and Mary, their daughter Lou, and their cat buddy - and possibly a ghost, but more on that later. They just bought a house situated on a pastoral couple of acres in the The Plains. We met in town for a Casa dinner before retiring to their house, a brick two-story with basement, well tended lawn, a lion gargoyle on the back steps, and some rooms newly renovated. We slept in the pumpkin orange basement room on a bed of memory foam. During the nights, I would awake and look at the gap under bedroom doors at the light coming in from the hall and imagine that I saw shadows, as if something were walking by. At one point, I heard one of the doors open and imagined a shadowy figure standing there watching me.

 
But, in the light of morning, such worries are unfounded. I dressed and prepared for the wedding. I wanted to be there early to practice. Emily and Wes had asked me to play the ceremony music, which included "I Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis, "Afton Waters" a traditional Irish ballad, and "Annie's Song" by John Denver. On the way, I stopped for a cup of Joe at my favorite Athens coffee shop, the Catalyst Cafe, and I spied my friend and old band mate Matt Box. We chatted briefly about this and that - how's your partner, are you still playing music, and the like - and then I bid him adieu and went to the Dairy Barn for the wedding. I had hoped to take a few minutes to visit the old graveyard across the road from the Dairy Barn, but since it was raining, I just chilled out, drank my coffee, shot the shit with Wes and the boys, and just generally waited for the show to begin.

After the official ceremony, I met up with Susan downstairs in the gallery and also found old co-op friends Dustin and Jo also guests at the wedding.The rest of the wedding was nice: a bit of wine, some cloyingly sweet beer, greasy spoon breakfast food, and then farewell.

We went back to The Plains, changed, and met a couple friends (and their baby) at the Cider House where I also ran into an old friend, Talcon, working the bar. Finally, we were back at Sean and Mary's place and this brings us full circle. We were restless and decided to catch the free show at Casa. After the side door was shut, we realized that the keys were locked inside! Credit cards were bent trying to jimmy the locks and alternative entrances were imagined. In the end, we saw an unlocked window above the foyer. After a quick run to the convenient store for booze and tater chips, and with a ladder from the neighbors, I hoisted myself up there and saved the day!

Flexin' so hard, bro.

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