Fence in

I finally got my fence fixed, which was damaged by that doozy of a storm, which sent a large tree branch crashing onto it, creating a lovely V-shape.
I am sure you recall the storm. “Sure, Mike – I remember the rain, the lightning but mostly the wind!” To which I say, yes, that was a doozy. But I am a ridiculous procrastinator when it comes to home improvement projects, and the storm I am referring to was kinda, sorta, uh … well, it was the 2004 ice storm.
OK, so four years to repair a single fence panel MAY be a little much. I am going to argue that the trauma of the storm kept be from doing it. After all, I was one of the many in town who lost power. When I was coming home from work, my wife called and said the power had gone out. By the time I got home about 10 minutes later, the power had been restored. But it was harrowing nonetheless. (My folks, who lost power for 10 days, fail to see the humor in this.)
But a big branch had dropped on the fence that goes around the pool. The fence is aluminum, but made to look like wrought iron. I priced wrought iron and found that I would have been able to afford to a lovely two- or three-foot fence. So I opted for aluminum, which looks black and shiny, but doesn’t do well against a large pine branch.
The fence is comprised of panels, so it was going to be fairly easy to simply pop another one in. Of course, each time I went to do it, something came up. (Say, winter. Or summer.) I was able to bend the fence back up enough to where it still served its original fence purpose. It just did it with a less horizontal approach.
For some reason the procrastination bug died and I decided to move forward. I went to the home improvement store where I originally bought the fence. I told them I wanted to buy a single panel. He told me they didn’t do that. I assured him they did. He told me I had to buy a whole fence. I told him I already had. I encouraged him to call the company and see what we could make happen. He told me the person who does the ordering was out, having had surgery, on “either his heart or his knee.” Seriously.
I was a little frustrated, but, hey, sometimes heart/knee surgeries happen. I went back a few days later and tried to order it again. I would have had as much luck ordering a pastrami sandwich. I told my wife the fence was fine the way it was, and we would continue to live with it. She told me to calm down, as it was not worth a heart/knee attack.
A few weeks later, I got a call from the store. They told me I had an open order for a fence panel, and asked if I wanted to get it rolling. I told them I would very much love to, and did several times before. They assured me that the system was well-oiled at this point, and they would get it done.
Indeed, they had figured out how to get me my panel, and it arrived a few weeks later. I decided this would be a good Saturday morning father-son experience, so I wrangled Parker out the door along with a few tools. The bent panel came out quite easily – just a few zaps with the electric screwdriver and the panel was free. Parker’s job was to hold the screws. He delegated this job to a nearby chair, which was fine. When it came time to reattach the brackets that held the panel in place, I called Parker and asked for his assistance. I told him I needed him to hold the fence panel very still for me. After I attached four of the six brackets, Parker looked at me and said, “Daddy, can I stop now? I’m tired and I want to go fishing.”
Now, I’m not sure about your backyard, but I do know that mine isn’t great for fishing. But I figured he had a plan, so I relieved him of duty. He went and picked a willow branch off the ground, went to the diving board, and began “casting” into the pool. Based on his mannerisms, he reeled in quite a few big ones.
The panel was soon secured in place, and the fence looks nice and even and unbent. Since most of the trees that were damaged in the ice storm have been removed, there is very little chance another branch will fall on it. But should it happen, I will make sure I get right on the case this time. I’ll wait two years, tops.