... for the past several weeks i haven't needed an alarm clock to stir me from my morning slumbers, the cacaphony of workers installing a new roof on the building being more than enough to awaken me, the pigeons living in the air conditioning units below my window, and, i'm sure, even some of the dead down the street in the catholic cemetery ...
... yesterday i climbed the ladder and, a most welcome improvement, opened the new hatch with a easy movement of one hand ... wandering out onto what i consider to be one of the perks of my downtown abode, i walked over and met arthur, the strawboss ...
... arthur's been doing roofing for over thirty years ... in a few minutes i learned that this job, one the few of us ever witness being performed, is an unbelievably complicated task ... arthur talked about how he wasn't all that good in school, that "reading" isn't something he took to easily ... i remarked, "it's clear, arthur, that there are many forms of intelligence, and you are gifted in an manner that was and still is completely unappreciated by the educational system" ... odd, to think of the uncountable number roofs in this country which in the next thirty to forty years are going to need replacing, and how schools are completely ignoring this fact ... arthur, who carries my grandfather's name and is just as french, was a most delightful person to meet ...
When this old world starts getting me down
... arthur's been doing roofing for over thirty years ... in a few minutes i learned that this job, one the few of us ever witness being performed, is an unbelievably complicated task ... arthur talked about how he wasn't all that good in school, that "reading" isn't something he took to easily ... i remarked, "it's clear, arthur, that there are many forms of intelligence, and you are gifted in an manner that was and still is completely unappreciated by the educational system" ... odd, to think of the uncountable number roofs in this country which in the next thirty to forty years are going to need replacing, and how schools are completely ignoring this fact ... arthur, who carries my grandfather's name and is just as french, was a most delightful person to meet ...
... jamal and dan were finishing the detail work on the main street side parapet ... their focus and methodical work flow impressed me ... we spoke for awhile, and it was a great pleasure to learn that the integrity of my apartment's roof was in the hands of two such personable young men ...
... i like my roof, it keeps me dry and protects me from nasty ol' gamma rays ...
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let me tell you now
When I come home feelin' tired and beat
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet
Up on the roof
I get away from the hustling crowd
And all that rat race noise down in the street
Up on the roof
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let's go up on the roof
Up on the roof
At night the stars put on a show for free
And darling, you can share it all with me
I keep a tellin' you
Right smack dab in the middle of town
I've found a paradise that's trouble proof
Up on the roof
And if this world starts getting you down
There's room enough for two, up on the roof
Up on the roof
Up on the roof
Up on the roof
Oh, come on, baby
Up on the roof
Oh, come on, honey
Up on the roof
Everything is all right
Up on the roof
Say that, "It's alright"
Up on the roof
Oh, we gotta go up on the roof
Up on the roof
GERRY GOFFIN & CAROL KING