I wanted to post this for a while. I haven't started my build yet, but I wanted to address a major concern for those wondering about being afraid of heights, especially while stacking and pinning logs and the roof rafters.
In short: you'll get over it, slowly, while "building up" (meant both as literly and as a metaphor!). That's the great part of the LHBA method: you'll stack the logs slowly, going at your own pace, and it will become second nature.
I am unfortunate to be born with the holy $#&@ gene of being terrified of heights (I think it is a gene, right?). For those that can't understand what it is like, here is a way I describe it:
While peering over a ledge, no matter how sure footed, anchored, or even behind glass protection, there is this huge sinking feeling in your chest (I believe this your brain rushing blood into your vital organs to prepare for a fall). It is almost like a lot of pressure from huge stress. Then comes the need to grab tight and freeze - like no matter how hard you hold on, you are still slipping so you pull harder (until your fingers slip and u actually do fall).
I can contest to say that this fear can be overcome. I have forced myself into many challenges in life and have tamed it multiple times. The only problem is, it is still there. It has to be tamed for each experience.
An aunt and uncle of mine ran a $0.99 theatre. A single screen, that sometimes showed two movies in one night. When I was 17, they asked me if I would change the main sign out front every Thursday night.
This was about the scariest thing a person afraid of heights could be asked to do: climb up a rickety latter, 3 stories high, onto two 2x6s spaced 4" apart and spaced 8" from the sign (yes, you can fall between them). The wood was at least 20 years old and weathered. The sign was a big wind-catcher and swayed a few feet in either direction ad the wind blew. Oh, and the first night I did it, a storm was coming so even more wind! You would then need to reach up about 4 to 5 feet to remove the letters and spell out the new movie. Oh, and there is nothing to hold onto. Nothing but your footing. The sign was too flimsy to grip,and there was no railing.
I decided if I I could ever beat this fear, this was the time to do it.
The first 2 or 3 times was embarrassing. I tattled the latter, I laid down on the boards refusing to reach up to the top of the sign (I would just knock the letters off, and would spell out the movie while laying down on the boards, down low on the sign). Almost frozen solid a few times trying to get back onto the latter.
But then, something happened. Over the next few times, I was able to walk around on my knees, still gripping the 2x6s. By my 2nd month, I found the nerve to stand and move around and anchor things up and down.
By the 3rd month, I was a rock star. No fear what so ever and it became 2nd nature, even in the slippery rain.
Over the decades since (err, dating myself), I found similar challenges: roofing, painting, tv dishes, trimming trees, etc. Each of which was just as scary at first as that movie sign. But approaching each one slowly, things calm down and you are able to get over it.
That's why the LHBA method of stacking the logs, one by one, at your own pace is just about perfect for anyone afraid of heights. You'll move slowly as you go.
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