A Real Christmas Treasure

Old Wooden Steps

When I moved into the old home place in 1994, there was a lot of work that had to be done to it. Just getting it in shape to live in strained my limited resources at the time and I just managed the basic walls, floor, wiring and plumbing. Later I added the siding and bought windows, and had the back door moved to the side to make the little porch more useful. When we put this set of wooden steps in front of the back door, the plan was to add a wrap-around porch to this side of the house. I'd still like to do that but other things are going to come first.

Over the years the wooden steps deteriorated and finally came off the wall, sagging with a broken bottom step resting on the ground. I propped them up with cinder blocks, which was fine for me, if a little tricky to navigate with a load of water bottles. But since Dad has been living here the steps have been a problem. He had trouble getting in and out, because of the sag there was a drop from the door to the first step. I'd been meaning to do something about them but just never got around to it.


New Steps

This is what my brother brought us for Christmas. He came by just before Christmas to 'measure' but I was busy and didn't really pay attention. I felt sort of bad later, because I told him we weren't doing lots for Christmas and didn't need any more 'stuff'. He just grinned and when he came back, I had to agree that we needed these! The day Sam was supposed to help us set the steps was so hectic that I forgot to call him, but the SO and I put them in place without any real problems (except we broke the shovel handle!). The picture makes them look lopsided; they are really quite level and sturdy. It may not seem like it but a gift like this is truly thoughtful and loving; trust my little brother for that!

I think I'll use the old steps as shelves for potted plants, near the house or near the store. A dear cousin of my mother's has a set of concrete steps in his back yard that used to belong to a house that is no longer there. I've always liked the sort of mystic idea of steps leading to nowhere; not sure where that comes from but the image is appealing.