FLOOR FIXIN' (Clayhill #2)
We bought an older house that year.1951, I think it must have been.
We realized it need "some fixin' up" and among our initial project was the repair of the floor in a single-storied, add-on appended to the north side of the two-storied frame house. It had been added, we were told, by the sons of the original owner as their father grew old and was bed-bound. It became downstairs bedroom for him in his final days. It was sized so he could lie abed and reach light switches on either side of the room with a cane. It was next to a bathroom, too. Very sensible, we thought.
Subsequent owners of the house did not use the room, but we coveted it as a den, office or library area... to be lined with books, surrounding a desk and typewriter.
When we did a "walk through “ of the house the center of the floor was occupied by a pile of discarded clothing items. It was a collection of once colorful feminine apparel since the previous occupants had been a mother and her two post-teen aged daughters.The mound was part of the cleaning out of a good many years of living. It was only when we removed the memorial pile that we discovered the floor was rotted through by a roof leak which had been patched too late,
We hired the Clayhill brothers, Melvin and Timothy, to repair the floor. They came by to look at what was needed and they were back next morning at seven to begin work. I had seen, and heard, the Clayhill brothers work before and knew what to expect. Their rather unusual M.O. was closely allied with conversation. As soon as the hammers started pounding, or saws whirring., both Melvin and Timothy, started talking to each other. Of necessity, they had to talk louder than most people do and the result was a running conversation punctuated by hammer blows and other construction noises. To this day, I remember what they talked about. That's how I know it was early in 1951 because their main topic of discussion was about a hot news topic.
Melvin started it, I'm sure – with the first hammer blow:. “That feller Truman knows what he's doin'! He done right to fire that fancy-pants General MacArthur!” Timothy disagreed. “Don't know that's true at all! What's he done that ain't right? Name me one thing...just one....!” The hammer continued, and there was a splintering of wood as they ripped up part of the old, rotted floor.
Melvin: “He messed up there in them islands you remember, don't you? Had to go back!” Timothy warmed up to the opening subject and started quote Biblical passages, which was his usual tactic. I left because I had other things to do, but outside I could still hear the carpenter clamor and comment. I don' t think they ever stopped talking, because the next time I was in the house they were still at it... working away, but they had veered away President Harry Truman having sacked General Douglas MacArthur.
Precisely at noon, they announced they were quitting for the day, because they had promised a nearby farmer they would finish up some work they were doing for him. The very next morning at seven, there they were back again. I stayed around to hear the opening salvo with Brother Timothy in charge. They were off, mouths running, with the first hammer and they were reworking a favorite subject: “sin and suffering in the world and why God allows it to happen”. I had to leave. I don't know, but I can imagine what their opposite views might have been.
The Clayhill boys were an odd team. They drove separate pick-up trucks They worked only together. If one became ill; the other one would not work alone.
A.L.M. April 18. 2003 [c1014wds]
