Working on high. . .

OK, so working on the Toucan tree house isn't like working on a skyscraper in New York or climbing a mountain, but it is kind of high, about 25 to 30 feet high.

However, when you are replacing the stairs, that's pretty high, especially for someone who is afraid of heights (yours truly).

And while I am afraid of heights, that was nothing compared to what Darling went through.

Since we were replacing the steps on the tree house, we tore out part of the wall to put in a larger window and also sanded and varnished the inside and outside of the tree house. The first day, Darling and Patricia went up to clean and prep the inside for varnish. We told them ahead of time that they were going to be walking up the stairs, but they would be coming down by ladder, as we were taking out the stairs.

No worries, they said. They know I'm a chicken up high, and when I brought their lunch up their ladder, Darling was having a good-ol yuk at my shaky steps up and down the ladder.

Darling thought it was a hoot and a holler until it was time for her to come down.

Patricia, as she is wont to do, shrugged and climbed down the ladder from 25 to 30 feet up (there is the railing to climb over as well). Darling, on the other hand, had a serious panic attack. She retreated into the tree house several times, sobbing and not wanting to come down the ladder. Patricia tried to coax her down; Miguel tried to coax her down; Lucy tried to coax her down. Nothing was working.

Finally, Gerardo (Miguel's son) scrambled up the ladder and showed Darling how to come down. She finally made it and was chuckling a bit afterward, though she has vowed never to go up in a tree house again if there are no stairs.

The next day, while there were still no stairs, Patricia went up on her own and we gave Darling the option of:

A) Cleaning the remaining tree houses;
B) Digging a new septic line and cleaning out the tank on the Toucan;
C) Wrangling the venomous snakes with her bare hands;
D) Massaging Bejuca and Mini-B's feet;
E) Just taking the ladder up the Toucan and hanging out.

It was an easy call for her, and the other tree houses are now clean; the septic line is finished; there are no more snakes and Bejuca and Mini-B are prancing like princesses.

OK, B, C, D and E were all fiction, but it was kind of entertaining, eh? Now that we know Darling does not handle heights well, no more climbing for her. That, of course, doesn't mean that the ribbing will let up.