Lovely Weather for Roofing
We in the cabin group were certainly blessed with the gorgeous weather of last weekend. As we left Tiffin after school on Friday, the reds of the oaks glowed and “burning bushes” brightened many yards. We approached the cabin just north of Stockbridge, Michigan after dark. Many of the leaves were down and covered the road through the woods to the cabin. Several times the eyes of deer showed in our headlights. We think they appreciate the sanctuary of our woods.
The crew, the owners of the cabin, started showing up midmorning on Saturday. First were John and Sue. The cabin owners wouldn’t like to be identified by their professions, but I’ll do it anyway. They say ruefully, “Everyone asks right away, ‘What do you do?’ “ John was a social worker who now works as a carpenter and loves it. Sue has worked for many years as a social worker in a school outside of Ann Arbor. John is a warm caring philosopher, always willing to discuss metaphysical problems and spiritual concerns. Sue is the housekeeping overseer of the cabin always finding little improvements to keep her busy. She was a great help when she and I upholstered a beloved, comfortable couch this summer.
Ken, tall, graying prematurely in his fifties, and Ben, his son, a tenth grader, arrived next. Ken works as computer information specialist with an Ann Arbor consulting firm. Soon John, Ken, Ben, and Percy were up on the roof with a long handled tool, removing the old shingles. Sue headed out in the woods with weed killer to paint the bittersweet vines which are smothering some of the trees. She calls them “the vines from Hell”. I completed preparations for a meal for the workers, using the vegetable soup that I had made at home.
Next came Michael, our daughter, Catherine’s ex-husband. Michael is in his fifties, beginning to bald, and happy to leave his job as a social worker in an agency. The hostility of court-referred clients and their many problems just overwhelmed him. He, more than any one, loves the solitude of the cabin, and spends a lot of time painting and maintaining the cabin.
While waiting for Ray, Catherine’s husband, to show up with a trailer for the old shingles, and supplies, Ken, Michael, and John cut and stacked wood for the winter. Ali, Ken’s former wife, arrived. She is a therapist and lives just one unit from Ken in cooperative housing. She is of Swiss and English parentage and interested in women’s issues. She helped some up on the roof.
Catherine came out in the early afternoon, her highlighted, blond hair cut shoulder length, and her blue eyes bleary from lack of sleep. She drove out to the cabin after arriving at the Detroit Airport on a “red-eye” flight from Los Angeles. She had presented a paper there for the University of Michigan. She slept most of the afternoon.
John Einhous, another partner, arrived along with Ray, and the work began in earnest. John and Gail, in banking, have recently adopted a baby girl, so Gail stayed home.
Ray, who is a contractor and the foreman of the project, soon had everyone working on the roof. Meanwhile, Getty, his daughter from a former marriage, and Keegan, Sue’s golden retriever, tried to avoid the noise. Getty retreated into her music on earphones, and Keegan scrunched down under tables and sought comfort from anyone who was sitting near her.
First, a layer of tarpaper was stapled down over the original layer of shingles. Then, the crew started at the lower edge of the roof with a specially coated three foot roll of tarred paper with an adhesive back for the dripline. This was to form a seal against capillary action. Then the tricky part of positioning the roofing rolls over tarpaper. . Four of the crew held the roll in position while Ray applied tarring to the lower foot of the roll. Each roll was nailed down at eight inch intervals with one and three fourth inch nails along the lower edge through insulation into the wood of the cabin ceiling. Each nail was then dabbed with tar. Through six rolls, this procedure continued. Little things like sealing the chimney of the wood stove took a lot of time. This lower roof is below a bank of windows which act as a skylight for the cabin and flashing and sealing had to be done there.
The work was not completed by suppertime, so, except for John Einhous who had to go home to his wife and baby, and Ali and Ben, nine of us slept at the cabin on Saturday night. Sue and Ken played Scrabble, an ongoing contest. Sue threatened to frame the score sheet, because for the first time in a long time, she beat Ken. Catherine and Percy played Backgammon another long continuing series. I worked on a needlepoint pillow top and enjoyed the conversation.
The cabin is one big room with a fire pit at one level, a sleeping-living room at another level, and the kitchen at the third level. The bathroom is on the kitchen level with a small basement room below it for the water heater. Getty slept in the fourth level, the loft. There was a variety of sleeping sounds from the partners.
Another wonderful bright day on Sunday. The lake was calm, mirroring the golden needles of the larch trees. Michael made pancakes for a leisurely breakfast and we enjoyed great companionship and talk on the deck before the men headed up in the roof to finish the job.
Everyone left around four PM after discussing Thanksgiving Dinner, another cooperative effort of the cabin group planned for Ken’s and Ali’s units in their cooperative housing. We, Percy and I, relaxed in the silence, and considered how lucky we are to be part of the cabin group.
- Mary