The Honest Courtesan

Every October, before the rains start mid-month, I put the atrium shutters back in place.  But since I don’t have the energy I had even a few years ago, nowadays I tend to do that sort of chore on days when I feel I have the energy. That’s how I mucked out the henhouse a couple of weeks ago, and the system seems to be working. So when I had the urge to install the shutters a week ago today, I went ahead and did it. In the past, I’ve always installed the north-side shutters by myself, but waited until I had help for the much-larger south-side shutter. Well, this time I moved the ladder and all the shutters from the garage into place and installed the north-side ones as usual. But though I was winded from that, I decided for some unfathomable reason to attempt the south side alone.  I leaned the ladder against the wall, put one end of the shutter on the ramp railing, lifted the other side to the top of the ladder, then climbed up a few steps and lifted the shutter onto the studs.  To my surprise and pleasure, it went right into place on my very first try, and all I had to do was tighten down the wingnuts to secure it.  Then I put the ladder away, et voilà; done until I take them down again somewhere between Easter and May Day.  It may seem a small thing, but with Grace gone there are a lot of things she used to do for me or with me, that I now have to do for myself.  So please allow me to celebrate these little victories which represent my settling into the way things must be now.