CLEVELAND, Ohio – Last spring, when sunshine began melting the snow, water shot out of an outdoor pipe to our hose.

“Um, mom?” said my daughter, pointing out the sliding glass door. “I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.”

No, and it wouldn’t have, if I’d bothered getting our sprinkler system properly winterized. But I hated spending hundreds of dollars every year on a system we rarely used. So I didn’t. And months later we had a problem. I had to find the water shutoff in our basement and pay a few months later for the pipe to be replaced.

That was about the same time last spring I was clearing out my front garden and found a few roof shingles.

For a split second, I had the harebrained thought of climbing on to my roof and stapling them back on before I did the sensible thing and ca

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