That’s not a typo. I’ve nothing against the occasional swear word or two, but in this case, I did not mean to use one.

Here in Riverton, Wyoming, last winter was hard. I guess it was hard everywhere. But we really had a hard time with it. Chief among our personal troubles was ice dams. Maybe that should be “ice … damn!”

We had water coming into the room we call “the office” through the ceiling and along the tops of all the windows. It was a mess. Still is because we have yet to get the interior repaired and it’s nearing the end of August already.

There are several factors adding to the delay. One … we live in Wyoming. Anyone who lives here will know that this is likely all the more explanation that it needs. Two … there are only so many insurance adjusters that might be considered “local.” And in Wyoming, local could still mean a two hour drive one way. Three … there are only so many companies that do roofing. Mostly those companies are not interested in small repairs, as in the roof over the office. The office was at one time a deck that got a cover and then was converted to a room. The slope on the roof is not good and that is one of the reasons why it has problems. The other is that the roof simply was not put on correctly.

But we did get our insurance company to send out an adjuster and look at the situation. I think that first time might have been in April. It was his opinion that the roof was in good shape at that time. And yes, it looked good, but that didn’t stop it leaking when it rains. And we’ve had more rain this year than normal. My guess is that the ice dams did some damage because prior to the ice dams, the roof did not leak when it rained.

We got a check for fixing the interior damage, but nothing for the roof over the office.  We haven’t had that interior done because … duh … the roof has not been fixed and is still leaking. And I’m really getting tired of the leaking. But just trying to get a roofer to call us back has been really difficult. We would leave the information about what needed doing and then never hear from them.

Enter the hail. On June 27, we had a hail storm to end all hail storms, as people like to say. Most of it was golf ball sized. It sounded like someone had dropped a load of rocks on our roof. It tore limbs out of our trees and battered my vegetable garden. Cars were dented, windows were broken. It was an awesome mess.

So, finally, on August 10, an insurance adjuster came out and had a look at the whole thing. He told me that he found enough hail damage up there to warrant getting a whole new roof. So maybe, just maybe, now a roofing company will want to do the work and we can get it all fixed up before the next winter.

And that would be a good thing because “The Farmer’s Almanac” has predicted this coming winter will be like the last.

So, hail, thank you.

Photo and quote courtesy of KDVR and IdleHearts respectively