Vignette: The Handyman

He had to be 6'5" tall and his lanky frame made him appear taller.  As he climbed the ladder leaning against the house, I couldn't help but wonder what he was about to do.  What was in the bag hanging from his shoulder?  He stepped very tentatively off the ladder and onto the roof.  Was that look on his face a sign of fear or caution?  With his next two steps I could clearly see fear.  As the shingles crumbled under his work boots he quickly leaned forward, placing his hands on the roof for support.  His bag pitched forward and hit the roof with a thud.  It was almost comical watching him crawl across the roof to the chimney, dragging the bag along.  Holding onto the chimney, he raised himself up to his full height and I thought his head would disappear in the clouds.  Reaching into his bag he pulled out a screen and some tools and, for the next 20 minutes, worked intently installing the screen over the chimney top.  When he was done, he gathered up his tools and his bag and moved slowly toward the ladder.  His climb down was so swift I almost missed it.  When he reached the gound I heard him say, "Praise God.  I'll never do that again."

Vignette: The Workout

He enters the room with a boom box the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, and a duffle bag that could carry a small child.  He sets down the box and starts rummaging through the bag, at which time I see that it's filled with CDs.  While searching for the right one he yells out "the class is box aerobics!  I hope you're ready because we're going to work tonight!"  He loads his CD of choice and the room fills with what sounds like house music at a night club.  He turns up the volume and moves to the front of the room.  He immediately jumps into a routine that has the class moving double-time, and after five minutes yells out, "that was your warm-up!"  I thought, he's got to be kidding.  He then leads us through a series of steps involving marching, lunging, kicking and punching, adding a new move after we've mastered each previous one.  Although his workout clothes are drenched with sweat and sticking to his lean but muscular frame, he doesn't even appear to be breathing hard.  The music increases in tempo and all of a sudden he breaks into a dance routine that looks like he's auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance.  It was as if the class had disappeared.  He's clearly in a world of his own.  When the song finally ends he comes out of his trance and calls out, "take a break everybody!".  I guess he didn't realize we just had.