Cleaning Gutters

^What's this?

We call these "gutters" (gut/ters).  In rainy places, houses need to have gutters to catch rainwater and lead it away from the house.   Why?  Because if your house stays wet for a long time, bad things can happen...



or...



EWWW!!!!

Now, I don't remember if homes in Taiwan have gutters.  Maybe not, since many houses have flat roofs.  Roofs are the top part of a house.  In the US, many houses have roofs like triangles.



It rains a lot in Xizhi, so they must use something that lets the water run down below the street where it won't damage houses.

Anyway, why am I talking about all this?  Well...



...because I had to clean our gutters out!  You see, if just water falls in the gutters, it'll fall down a pipe and go under the ground.  That's what is supposed to happen.  But if leaves and other stuff fall in, they'll stay in the gutters.  And if too many leaves get in the gutter, it can stop the water from going down.  This will damage the gutters.



We have A LOT of trees around our backyard, mostly in our neighbor's yard, so that means we get A LOT of leaves in our gutters:



We also get branches and other things, too.

Climbing around on a ladder can be dangerous.  If it's a tall ladder, then you have to be really careful.  You have to move slowly even if you want to get the job done quickly.  If you fall off from the very top, you might get hurt badly!  I'm not a patient person, but even I know I have to pay attention and watch my step.



This is after I finished cleaning one part of the gutters.  You can still see some leaves in there, but that's fine because you don't need to make it perfectly clean.  You just need to clean it enough so water can still flow inside.

Here's a picture of me as I'm cleaning:



I sweep the branches and leaves down from the top of the roof into the gutters, and then pick up the leaves from inside the gutter.  What do I do with the leaves?



I have to throw them away, but not in the garbage can!  We have a special "garbage can" for plants called a "yard waste bin".  "Waste" means things you don't want, or things that are left over after you finish something.  When you go poo-poo, that's called "waste"!





In America, parents will pay children for doing chores.  They think it's good for children to learn how to take care of the house and keep things neat, so they give them a reason to do that by giving them money.  Students in America aren't just studying all the time, and parents are OK with that.  This can be good and bad.  It can be good because children learn that they can earn money by working hard, but it can also be bad because some kids might only want to help their parents or do a good job when they can get money for it.  Sometimes you should do a good job because it's the right thing to do, not just to help yourself.

My mom wants to give me money for helping the family, but I'm proud to be able to help and I don't need any money.  When she asked me how long I worked, I told her I couldn't remember, and she got mad at me because she knew I was just pretending to forget on purpose! :P

Are there any ways you help Mom and Dad around the house?  Would they let you help them if you asked, or would they just tell you to worry about your schoolwork?  Would you want to help them if you could?  These are things you can think about when you see your parents taking care of you and cleaning around the house.  When you're older, maybe you can do some of those things to show them some love!

Alright guys, catch you later!
Tr. Stephen