Or Chimney-cop is policing his terrain.
Another one of the unique yet highly interesting little facts of life about living in the Northern Hemisphere. One has actual chimneys. Four times per year, this chimney sweep / cop calls on us. Look, I call him chimney cop because, gosh darn it he does look like one of those action heroes in those blockbuster movies I tend to favour.
Bob always rolls his eyes in disdain, mixed with a hint of boredom yet, when it is time for the chimney sweep to call on us, Bob cancels all other activities. He clearly doesn't see my point of interest but is hesitant to leave me alone with the sweep. Oh, last year when my friend and her husband came for a visit, my description of our chimney cop, found me with an ally. Not her husband of course. He stood behind Bob with his opinion and that peculiar way of rolling their eyes.
My friend tried to get me to have an unscheduled appointment with the chimney cop. She was dying to have a look at that superhero of the attic. It is whispered that touching a chimney sweep brings only good luck. Only on the sleeve of course! Alas I couldn't organize an ad-hoc sweep out. She had to take my word for it.
Our chimney sweep could be mistaken for a SWAT team member if it wasn't for the fact that he has a steel chimney brush hanging off his belt instead of a bang - bang. But, he is streaked in soot and wears those Bear Grylls like pants and has the physique of a SWAT member. It just dawned on me why that is. He needs to go into attics and such spaces.
The poor dear should get danger pay in our house. Getting into the attic involves a climb up a wooden ladder & through a narrow opening in the wall. All fours are necessary to crawl in. Yes, I tried it once and somehow managed to let Bob do the crawling from there on out. There is also the chance with an encounter with a peeved Tigger, whose main domain is in the attic. Eh, Bob did volunteer and thought I was too fragile to handle the crawl. Who am I to disillusion my husband!
The other day, I was visiting someone in the village and we somehow talked about the chimney sweep coming to town. She told me that they know or rather can smell whether we air our homes or not! It needs to be aired vigourously twice a day for at least 20 minutes. All windows and doors open, regardless of snow, ice or Arctic conditions. Through trial & error I have learned to air our house when Bob's either asleep or not in. For Bob, the warmth is precious and he hates to part with even a breath of it...
Anyway, I knew what time the chimney cop would call on us and gave our house a tidy up. Mainly where I knew he would work and also a two hour airing session. Goodness, I don't want to be talked about as the place that has an aroma...
Biggi
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