Allow me to set the stage. This is the final photo of my Herculean efforts to replace a twenty-year-old privacy fence. This is what it looked like before I started.

This is what it looks like at its completion.

However, I ended that essay with this cryptic comment: “But wait.... That’s not the whole story.” This article is the rest of the story. I was happy with my project. All that was needed was a couple of small artistic wall-hangings.

Late that evening, I looked outside due to hearing a wind gust coming off the lake. It started to rain as I watched the choppy waves of the lake. I looked at my prized artistic accomplishment, which was swaying in the windstorm. It was bolted down with eight bolts to the deck floor. The privacy fence wasn’t going to go anywhere. The wind gusts of over 40 mph were so strong at times that I feared that the two panels' metal side braces would be bent.

I went out to the panel on the right side and put my shoulder into it, forcing the panel back to a perpendicular position to the deck. There I stood amid the rain and the winds, I thought that I might be forced to stand there for several hours until the windstorm and rain abated. There wasn’t anything floating in my troubled head to provide a quick fix to my problem.

As I pushed the panel back to its place, wondering what I could do, the only thing that I could hear in my head was the song, They Call the Wind Maria. Put yourself in my position of peril. Your shoulder was pushing a panel against the wind. Now, click on the soundbar.

Finally, I came up with the only two options open to me: I could stand there for several hours, or I could run inside and get some rope to tie the top of the two panels to the railing of my deck. I realized that I needed to take the chance of leaving to support the panel to find some rope in my garage.

I ran into my home with fear and trembling, looking for some rope. I returned to see that the two panels were standing during my absence. I battened down the panels to the railing and returned to the warmth and dry home.

The next morning, I was pleased and relieved to find the two panels still standing. I fed Ginger and drove to the Home Depot in Merrillville, IN. Talked to people about my dilemma. Jolina talked about r-bars, and Marshall about tying down the privacy fence. Marshall provided a better way to hold the privacy fence in place. His idea was to use 24-inch zip-ties. I ordered brown zip-ties from Amazon since Home Depot didn’t carry long brown ones.

This is my completed masterpiece.

The following day, I returned to Home Depot to thank Jolina and Marshall. This is part of our discussion about being helpful with each other. Listen to their responses.

They made it possible for my privacy fence to still be standing long after I’m not. Perhaps Elton John could create a follow-up to I’m Still Standing.