There was a hole. It’s not always clear what a hole is for. The body has a few holes. Some holes occur naturally but some are pierced or punctured. And some holes make it hard to live. Some holes are hard to see.
My uncle, a rocket scientist, used a drill to make a hole. Drills make holes for connecting and mounting. They make space for bolts and screws and nails. Big drills find the coldest water. They find oil, too. Of course, my dentist loves drills. And my uncle had a few drills. He even used one to make a hole in a beam in his attic.
The beam in my uncle’s attic was not a beam of light but a beam of pine. Beams often work best with other beams, like a team of beams. Funny, a person can beam with pride or have a beaming smile. An eye bolt can fit in a hole in a beam. Sure, a rope can be thrown over a beam but why throw a rope over a beam when you can drill a hole in a beam and fit it with an eye bolt that can hold a rope right where you want it? We don’t always get to know why something is one way and not another.
The rope was tied around the eye bolt, and it hung down through an opening between the garage and the attic. Rope is strength. Docking boats. Pulling pruned limbs to safety. A football thrown on a rope is a football that lands perfectly in a receiver’s hands. We can get roped into things, which can be bad, but it also knits community, it can help us out. Rope secures. Mattresses and Christmas trees are sometimes roped to the tops of cars. It’s a good feeling to secure things.
There was an orange towel between the rope and my uncle’s skin. Towels are great right after a shower.
My uncle’s foot, in a black shoe, was within reach of the third rung of a folding ladder. The ladder extended from the garage into the attic, which is where the beam was (see above). We climb ladders to reach. We reach gutters full of leaves and sticks. We reach lightbulbs gone bad and cats who make bad choices. Standing ladders, extension ladders, footstools. It’s fun to be taller.
I found my uncle’s glasses on a shelf, close to the ladder. Logically, they needed to be removed. Glasses help you see. See the words on a page, the mountains on the horizon, the road at night in the glare of streetlamps. Glasses can block the sun and make you look cool, like an aviator.
Garages are for storing things. Stuff can be stuffed in a garage. Kids can stay dry in garages on rainy days. They can play hopscotch in there. They can eat snacks in there. In the garage, kids can make jokes adults don’t enjoy. In garages and attics, adults often keep things that are found later and don’t seem to make sense or be of any use.
