Must have happened during the previous night’s thunderstorm. It passed through the Metroplex with 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts and pea-sized hail. Probably came through Sulphur Springs, too.

Not too dramatic, I suppose, but when I arrived at the cabin this morning one of the tin slats was bent backward and wrapped around the power line that feeds into the workshop. Good thing it didn’t snap. I made sure to flip the switch at the fuse box before untangling the mess using a garden hoe while standing on an old office chair.

The entire roof is loose now. I was out there today loading junk into the back of the truck and watched as a slight breeze lifted the entire front half of the roof and slammed it back down on the wooden frame. I was a little annoyed with myself for not bringing along my tools. I didn’t have a ladder, a drill, or nails to get up there and hammer it secure, so I improvised by taking a few ten-foot lengths of iron pipe and a few six-foot 2×8 pieces of lumber that were laying around in the workshop and placed them up there to keep the tin slats from blowing away. Then I remembered a section of chain-link fence that was also sitting in the workshop. I dragged that up there as well, situating it beneath the pieces of pipe and wood. Since I didn’t have a ladder, I accomplished this by backing my truck right up against the building. Then I climbed up on the pile of ratty mattresses and rotted pieces of wood paneling that I was planning to take to the dump and, teetering and tottering, hoisted each piece into place. Banging and clanging and creating a loud racket. The neighbors across the way must think I’m some lunatic who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, and they’re probably right.