“OK girl, you ever hung cement siding before?”
“No, actually,” I said.
Bill grinned as he handed me a yellow tape measure, bright pink protective glasses, a work apron and a screwdriver.
“Welp, that’ll change after today!”
It had been chilly and clouded when I arrived at the Habitat for Humanity worksite in Huber Heights at 9 a.m. It should have been 8:30, but I’d realized halfway there that I had forgotten my phone, which contained the worksite address, and had to turn around.
When I’d arrived back at my apartment to pick up my phone, I’d wondered if I should even go.
It’s so easy, isn’t it, to back out of things? To be too tired, or too down, or just fearful. We have the best intentions, but when it comes to actually moving on them, we face a wall of resistance.
But so much more life happens when we have the courage to show up. And I’ve found that when I push forward, when I commit and then follow through, it’s always worth it. That’s one of my biggest reasons for pursuing this challenge; to have the curiosity and the optimism to say, “Let’s see what I can get into today.”
I’d paused for a moment in my kitchen. Then I thought, “I signed up for this shift. I’m going,” grabbed my keys, and hit the road.
I arrived at the work site to find a standing structure in a pleasant neighborhood of newer homes. I walked around the house and found two people standing at a makeshift table with long slabs of siding.
Bill, who was about sixty, gray, and missing a few teeth, welcomed me and introduced me to Melinda, a middle aged woman smiling through her protective glasses. The three of us were it, he said, and we’d be siding a wall.
Bill set me up drilling holes in the heavy slabs of siding to prep them for him and Melinda to hang them on the wall. A country music station blared as I started drilling hole after hole.
But so much more life happens when we have the courage to show up. And I’ve found that when I push forward, when I commit and then follow through, it’s always worth it. That’s one of my biggest reasons for pursuing this challenge; to have the curiosity and the optimism to say, “Let’s see what I can get into today.”
“You’re going through those like candy, young lady!” Bill exclaimed after a while. “You’re getting another job.”
In between drilling holes, I would use a utility knife to slice waterproof material to slide underneath breaks in the siding.
I broke down my tasks into a seamless system. Drill holes, move the plank of siding, drill more holes, then start cutting. Time slipped by as I drilled, cut, moved and went back to drilling again. Siding crept up the wall before my very eyes.
Often, Bill would cut the slabs with a circular power saw. Apparently, cement dust is not good for your lungs, so he would yell, “Breathe!” and we would all take a big breath and hold it while dust flew into the air. After a while, someone found masks and we started wearing them.
I ran out of slabs to drill and told Bill we needed to move more.
“You’re making me work too hard,” he groused as we lugged five heavy slabs from the shed. “And you look like a little train robber in that mask.”
Lunchtime arrived before I knew it. I devoured an amazing sandwich from Firehouse Subs and looked forward to the afternoon.
The sun was shining brightly when we arrived back on site. Melinda asked me to switch with her and I climbed a ladder and began drilling the heavy slabs into the wall. We laughed when I struggled to get the hang of the new power drill, but before long I was back in a rhythm.
It’s amazing how quickly time flies by when you’re working outside on a beautiful day. When it was time to go, Bill and Melinda kindly thanked me for coming. The wall was almost complete. I looked at it with a smile and a sense of satisfaction. As usual, I was glad I’d followed through.