Everyone has their own definition of comfort zone and although people like to be in their comfort zone, it’s basically like sitting in a rut.  Getting comfortable and content may be a nice feeling but it will never allow you to grow.  Pushing yourself to try to things or approach an issue differently than you normally would, gives you the opportunity to develop new thought processes and possibly new skills which then can lead to more opportunities.  This is called personal growth and the limits are endless. 

On the new farm property there is a dilapidated structure of what used to be a kid’s playhouse.  The boards are all rotting away and the roof is leaking but when we built the pasture area, I decided to leave it.  It was going to be additional time and effort to tear it all down and I figured maybe the goats would enjoy poking around in there.  I removed some small trees around it and the old handmade slide and left the rest there.  This “goat shack”, as its now called, has become a favorite hang out for Rio.  He has been sleeping in there at night as the other boys take over the run-in barn.  Since the roof is leaking on the left side, he has been able to tuck himself in the right side to avoid getting dripped on.  I decided it would probably be worthwhile to invest a bit of money in some materials to fix the shack as it could serve as another shelter.  My brother offered to come down to take a look and assist me in getting plywood and other materials to get it fixed up before winter.   Due to a turn in events with my weekend, I cancelled his trip down as I didn’t think I’d be able to carve any time out for this.

On Sunday morning I found myself with a few unexpected hours and decided to assess the shack on my own and try to take some measurements.  I pulled my dad’s old extension ladder out of the barn and carried it out to the shack.  At first, I thought to myself, “what the heck am I doing?” “I don’t even know how to extend this ladder!”  I continued walking feeling like an imposter and then decided, how hard can this be?   I put the ladder up against the structure and fumbled around trying to extend it.  I almost called my brother to ask the dumb question of how to get the ladder up but stopped.  I am a super independent person and like figuring things out.  So here I am, alone on the property, about to climb up a ladder with the ever curious goat, Neptune at my side.  I needed to get a good view of the roof to decide what to do and also needed to measure so up I went.  The ladder wobbled a bit but my bigger concern was Neptune pushing it or better yet, climbing up on it!

I got some rough measurements and wondered if a temporary solution might be to use a large heavy duty tarp to cover the roof.  It wouldn’t be as nice looking but I’d be able to maybe accomplish this on my own and I’d be able to transport the materials myself.  Off to Home Depot I went to look at tarps!

A brief side story… One thing I will say about going into a place like Home Depot is, as an older woman, you get looks when you show up in certain aisles of the store.  I guess it’s not too common to see women looking at rebar or screws or reciprocating saw blades.  In the summer months there would be days where I’d make 3-4 trips back to back to get bags of gravel or soil.  I’d load the hand cart up with as many bags as my SUV could carry and then get the cart out to my car.  I’d then load the bags and would get many looks from men passing by.  After a while, I’d try to park in a place where I’d have fewer people passing me by.  I laughed to myself thinking how I would adjust where I parked just so I’d have less people watching me.  This goes back to me being independent.  The workers at that location now know me well and I get comments saying things like “we know you definitely don’t need any help.”  I don’t mind being the stubborn old lady at the store at this point.  Pushing myself to lift and move the heavy bags has built my strength and stamina and it’s great to be able to do projects 100% on your own.

I found a few tarps that looked like they would work and took them back to the farm.  As I unfolded them, my supervisor Neptune had to come over to inspect.  This guy just won’t get off my back when I am working!  Next challenge would be to get up the ladder while carrying the unfolded tarp and somehow get it opened and aligned properly on the roof.  Up the ladder I went with the hope I wouldn’t topple off while trying to unfurl it.  After a few trials and errors and moving the ladder around to all sides, I got it pretty well situated.  I even got a double colored tarp and chose the brown side to blend it in more with the structure and the trees. 

I used some roofing nails along with one of my Dad’s old hammers to complete the job.  I climbed down and looked up and thought to myself I did a pretty good job. I decided to wrap the side with the missing wood with another tarp and got that secured as well.  This would provide a good break from the wind and if one of the animals fell into it and ripped it off, no big deal.  

As I put the ladder away and fed the animals before heading off to my part time job, I had a great sense of accomplishment.  Deciding to give it a try myself involved several things new to me.  Carrying the ladder out and figuring out how to get it to raise and lower and getting it situated on all sides of the structure. Coming up with a “plan B’ which would enable me to get the material myself without a truck and have the skills to implement  them.  Having the “courage” to go up the ladder with no hands to hold on with while I laid the tarp out and got it nailed up.   I went outside my comfort zone with all of these things and each time I am able to do a project like this, I prove to myself that I can pretty much do anything I put my mind to.  Don’t let your age or gender or anything else put you in a box.  Get out of your comfort zone and learn and grow.  I make a conscious effort to do this daily if I can.  It could be having an uncomfortable conversation, or pushing yourself to try something new (like writing these blogs), or building your own website, or taking a class on something new.  Don’t get stuck in your comfort zone.  Don’t let it define you.  You have so many things you can do in this world and there are no limits! Be your best self and allow yourself to grow.  You will be absolutely amazed at what you can do!