Yesterday I was a boy, today I am a man

There were three sections of steps leading down from my backyard deck to the lawn. Imagine taking a quarter wedge out of circle. One section of four steps went down towards 9:00, another section of four steps at 12:00, and a third section of four steps in the shape of a triangle in between. There was a serious problem, as is plain from elementary facts of geometry: while the runners on the 9:00 and 12:00 sections were the standard 10 inches, those on the triangular portions were only 5-1/2 inches. This was a disaster waiting to happen: someone was going to slip on those steps and end up owning my house. Plus, they were crumbling and there were some exposed nails.

I thought about paying to have the entire set of steps replaced, which would mean moving them out further into the yard to accommodate 10-inch runners all around. But no, I thought, I'll build a planter. So I ripped out the triangular section of steps, put the kick plates back in without runners, put up a couple of five step stringers, filled the thing with dirt, and voila - I've got a nice sunny spot for my herbs. I'm going out right now to get some cilantro, basil, Thai basil, and lemongrass. Mmm.

I had the circular saw out of its package and under assemblage, ready to roll. But I thought better of it and used a handsaw. Since the kick plates were still in pretty good shape I didn't have as much cutting as I had thought I might. Discretion, it turns out, is the better part of valor.

This was the manliest thing I've done since the banner year 2002-03. That year I hit the trifecta: turned a small bathroom off the kitchen into a pantry; got tenure; and sired a child.