I was working on the porch roof last week and I almost fell. I say almost, but I actually did fall to some degree.

I was running short on time, so instead of setting up the ladder, I backed the truck up to the porch and was climbing off the cab onto the roof, a move I have made multiple times; albeit not necessarily a smart one.

The last time I was getting up there, in a hurry just before dark, my foot slipped from the top of the roof just as I kicked off the cab of the truck. For one horrible moment, I had half of my weight on the roof and the other half dangling in space, then I suddenly started to lose my hold.

My hands reached out for the first thing I could grab, the edge of the tin roof — not a good thing to grab onto with bare hands. The roofing cut into my fingers at a sharp angle, ending with a longer slash on my little finger. Although the slash wasn't stitch material, it was enough to get my attention. When I let go with a yelp of pain, I also raked the top of my left hand over an exposed nail and somehow scraped my thumb on the other hand. I finally came to rest, dumped rather unceremoniously, partially on the cab of the truck. I was just thankful that I didn't end up bouncing off and coming down on my head or smacking into the porch floor or rail.

I had asked a friend to be there to hand things to me on the roof, with the notion that a fall is always possible in such situations. He didn't see me fall, but asked me why I was leaning on the cab of the truck when he came back around the corner shortly thereafter. I just went back to the roof and didn't say a word. Sort of like the horse that bucks you off, I suppose. I stopped the bleeding pretty quickly by adding pressure to the deeper cuts. The others stopped on their own. After that, I climbed to the top of the main roof and took out the roof jack shortly thereafter, much surprised at how easy the dreaded job turned out to be. It was so easy, in fact, that I truly wish I had done it much sooner. I just didn't realize that I could.

I wonder what other obstacles in our lives are that way, things that we could easily remove if we only tried. That's something to ponder. Often our greatest challenges come from within our own minds.

I had figured that job to be difficult for so long that I just knew it would take hours of time and much frustration. Instead, I had the whole thing finished in less than an hour, including patching up the hole.

I remember in elementary school there was one particular boy who often harassed me. He was two or three grades ahead of me and I was terrified of him, so much in fact that I gave him my lunch and ice cream money from time to time. One day, I decided not to give it to him. Instead, I gave him a sock in the stomach. He never bothered me again.

Even so, the tendency to let problems go on and on is still there, as is witnessed by this roof jack thing. As I should have learned long ago, the best way to take on anything in this world is head-on, without reservation, without hesitation, without fear or prejudgment. "Just do it," the commercial says. I agree whole-heartedly.

Even if something is as hard as it seems, nothing is really impossible and all of us are made better by taking on a difficult task.

I suppose building my cabin is the hardest task I have taken on in recent years, but it has proven to be one of the most rewarding. This remodeling job that I am working on now would rate second at this point.

Anyway, after I removed the jack, I went back the next morning and put up the drywall on the ceiling and the last wall, finishing well before noon. My friend who works in construction came over to supervise, and finish, the task. His movements are fluid and easy when it comes to applying and sanding drywall compound, unlike my herky-jerky method that gets the job done, but only barely. When he is finished, the sanding time is about one-fourth of what it takes me. It actually saves me both time and money to hire him for finishing.

I am always amazed at the way his knives dance over the seams and effortlessly smooth the tape and corners.

However, he also doesn't know how to turn a computer on, while I can operate one without thought or question. Perhaps we all have our specialties, our own abilities, that we have fostered and nurtured over time.

I call that area our comfort zone. No one really learns very much in the comfort zone, it is a place where life is automatic. I can scan a picture and write a story without even having to think about it, my fingers know where to go to type out the message and my mind is fixed on the logical arrangement of sentences.

As I have often said, anyone who does any job for five years or more should be able to do it with little or no effort. I have been doing this kind of work for more than 10 years now and he has been in construction for at least 20. That is why I so enjoy doing carpentry and other such work, because it is something that challenges me — it is outside my zone. I have always had a love of working with my hands.

In our society, those who work with their hands are often least appreciated. All I have to do is watch a craftsman at work to appreciate the intrinsic value of those skills. If you lack appreciation, just try it yourself.

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