We've ordered cable television for my father for his 91st birthday next week. He'll be able to watch the Celtics games this winter; those games are only on cable.

My father worked construction. One day, it was so cold and windy that the bosses shut down the site and sent everyone home. My father arrived home and looked next door where his parents lived. My grandfather was on top of the roof, on top of a ladder, on top of a five-gallon bucket, swaying in the wind, trying to reconnect the TV antenna lead that had come loose. My father hollered, got my grandfather down, and went up there himself to finish the work. My grandfather was in his 70s at the time; my father would have been close to my age.

Earlier this spring, my father was having a problem with his sailboat. A cable had come slipped and the end had snapped up to the top of the mast. So, he gets on top of the boathouse, lassoes the top of the mast with a bit of rope, and tries to pull the mast close enough so he could reach the cable. He couldn't pull the mast (and boat) close enough. We arrived some time later, lowered the mast, retrieved the cable, and put things back in order.

Adam once observed, "It's a wonder that you're not any crazier than you are."