My across-the-street neighbor Matthew is a building contractor who specializes in house shingling jobs (he shingled my house and did a beautiful job with many artistic flourishes). But right now he is working on his roof. I’m amazed at his strength and stamina. He was up there all day today, ripping off the old roof and putting up a new layer of wood, then tar paper. I could hear him up there hammering after it was dark.
He is so strong that a few months ago when I stupidly sped backwards out of my driveway right into his massive pickup truck that was parked where it usually isn’t, he fixed the big dent in the back of my car for me by pulling it out with his hands. (I hit his bumper which didn’t even get scratched.)
My sketch doesn’t do him justice–he was just cleaning up on Saturday evening when I sketched him. Today he worked from about 8:00 a.m. until after 8:00 p.m. , with nothing securing him to the roof or protecting him from the sun, wind, cold.
I find it astonishing to see how hard some people work and it makes me grateful for my comfortable desk job (although it’s not without discomfort either, as all that sitting is quite hard on the back). I’m sure Matthew would have trouble sympathizing though.
Jana Bouc, Artist 