I remember a couple of years ago there was a huge storm out east; the authorities were urging people not to get on the roof and shovel because, apparently, of the tendency for ice to form at the bottom of a roof snow-pile. I gather that there were many dozens of folk tumbling off their respective roofs, shovel in hand. Sounds like you and your dad had way more fun – just not enough to keep you in the East.

One year I had to help my dad shovel snow off the roof, after it made several alarming creaks during the night. The sad thing was that after we were done, we didn’t need the ladder to dismount. Hence my current southwestern corner-of-the-country address.