Returning home from a 954 mile trek from New Jersey to the suburbs of St. Louis I found a bearded man in a red suit and a Santas hat right there on my roof. Was truly amazed as I steered the motorhome into the driveway.
As I exited the RV the cheery man on the roof shouted, "Merry Christmas" followed by a "Ho HO HO". Was I seeing things, after all it was a long trek and I surely was tired, yet there he was in all his glory cept wearing denims. I returned the greeting with a "Merry Christmas" of my own then asked, whats up....did you bring me presents. He quipped, "Were you a good boy?", Well he had me there.
As I got closer I recognized Santa as my next door neighbor. Go inside he said, you may not like what you see. As i entered the house there was the usual musty smell when a house has been locked up for 6 weeks but other than that it didn't look anything special.....till I walked into the kitchen dining area. There it was, a big hole in my ceiling and a lot of wood chippings and insulation from the attic.
Went outside and asked what happened. He said there were high winds yesterday that knocked down some trees in the area and a huge branch from my 50 foot oak tree snapped off coming straight down piercing my roof and continuing through the attic into the kitchen dining area. He went on to say they didn't know when I would be returning so he and another neighbor pulled the big branch out and he was up on my roof making an emergency repair as more rain was on the way.
BTW my neighbor has keys to my house just for such emergencies and any unexpected events. While I thanked him for his help he assured me the roof was secure and would not leak but the ceiling etc would be up to me.
Well it wasn't under a tree (or was it) and not wrapped but what a wonderful Christmas present from a good friend and neighbor.
Hope every flyer fan also had a wonderful Christmas. Ho, Ho, Ho.
As I exited the RV the cheery man on the roof shouted, "Merry Christmas" followed by a "Ho HO HO". Was I seeing things, after all it was a long trek and I surely was tired, yet there he was in all his glory cept wearing denims. I returned the greeting with a "Merry Christmas" of my own then asked, whats up....did you bring me presents. He quipped, "Were you a good boy?", Well he had me there.
As I got closer I recognized Santa as my next door neighbor. Go inside he said, you may not like what you see. As i entered the house there was the usual musty smell when a house has been locked up for 6 weeks but other than that it didn't look anything special.....till I walked into the kitchen dining area. There it was, a big hole in my ceiling and a lot of wood chippings and insulation from the attic.
Went outside and asked what happened. He said there were high winds yesterday that knocked down some trees in the area and a huge branch from my 50 foot oak tree snapped off coming straight down piercing my roof and continuing through the attic into the kitchen dining area. He went on to say they didn't know when I would be returning so he and another neighbor pulled the big branch out and he was up on my roof making an emergency repair as more rain was on the way.
BTW my neighbor has keys to my house just for such emergencies and any unexpected events. While I thanked him for his help he assured me the roof was secure and would not leak but the ceiling etc would be up to me.
Well it wasn't under a tree (or was it) and not wrapped but what a wonderful Christmas present from a good friend and neighbor.
Hope every flyer fan also had a wonderful Christmas. Ho, Ho, Ho.
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