Dangerous is the New Cool

When we first walked through our house as prospective buyers, the screened-in porch and the creek went miles towards convincing us to buy. We stood on the north side of the house, outside the huge picture window in the kitchen, and looked over the edge of a steep slope to a babbling brook below. We said, “Wow! Living next to a creek--this would be so cool.”

We bought the house, and have enjoyed the summer nights of listening to the cool running water through the open windows. We have stood on the edge of the slope overlooking the creek and dreamed about treehouses, gardens, and lumber. It was totally cool.

Then we had a baby.

Now we have a crawling baby.

And soon we will have a running toddler.

The steep-sided canyon that runs so close by our house has gone from cool to dangerous. If Gwendolyn’s crawling habits are any indication of future performance, then before her mother gets one box of candles out of the trunk, our daughter will be out of her car seat, across the flower bed, and over the edge.

So our creek canyon needed a fence. Thanks to the grace of a friend who dropped off some doomed lumber (thanks Stan), our local construction supply store, and two summers of experience constructing fences, I was able to throw up a fence that will keep young children from falling to their deaths without entirely depriving us of our view.

Now our creek can still be cool, but be a little less dangerous.

~ emrys