I found myself on a stepladder this evening. Not my best moments…anytime I find myself on a ladder. But life occasionally requires you to live dangerously. And despite rumors to the contrary, even compact fluorescent bulbs eventually burn out.
The worst part is…sometimes they’re on the ceiling.
I’m not a short person, so as it turns out, I’m already dangerously far from the floor the minute I stand up. Add a pair of sexy heels or a stepladder and I’m just one stumble away from a ride in an ambulance. This is why I avoid heels and heights at all times. Any occasion to be on a ladder is an opportunity for disaster.
I didn’t fall this time, but I was only a few steps above the floor and still suffering from vertigo. I had to dig my shins into the top step to keep from wobbling as I screeched and squealed my way through removing the glass dome hiding the spent bulb. On top of that, this was all happening in a dark room.
My daughter rolled her eyes at me from the doorway. “Mom…you’re not even a foot off the ground. You won’t die if you fall.”
That’s what she thinks. She’s too young to know that most fatal accidents happen within the home. And if anyone could die falling from the second step on a three step ladder, it would be me!
My daughter’s room now has light. Amazingly, I did it myself. And other than the two deep stair-shaped grooves carved into my shins, I did it relatively unscathed.
So, how many writers does it take to change a light bulb?
The short answer would be one…but when you’re dealing with a writer, there’s no such thing as a short answer. We writers are long winded…and don’t expect to find several in the same place at once. We rarely travel in packs. We prefer to tuck ourselves away in solitude…like recluses. But we’re almost never alone. We tend to travel with a diverse array of mysterious characters…all inside our heads, of course; whispering goodness knows what at any given moment. I even consulted a writer friend, Ashley, to see what her thoughts on the topic might be.
So the long answer is this…
It takes one writer to change the light bulb, but a multitude of imaginary characters telling us how it should be done.
Until the next time…I’ll be prepping for tomorrow’s guest blogger!