One morning, during my visit with a family in Mexico, I offered to help with the laundry. The linens were washed in an old-fashioned machine and then taken up to the roof to dry on clotheslines.
Using a metal ladder, I climbed to the roof with one hand on the rungs and the other clutching the basket of wet linens. As I stepped onto the roof, I held onto a pole at the top of the ladder to steady myself.
Later that day, as I went to retrieve the dry linens, I climbed the ladder as before. However, this time when I clutched the pole at the top, I realized that it was actually the flue pipe for the furnace, which was now lit. It was red hot, and I could feel it burning my hand severely.
