Cletus and Zeke in Nebo, Illinois

Cletus swore that they weren't going to take on any more gigs in Illinois but the money was just too good.

They were putting in guard rail, something that had become one of their specialties.

The crew consisted of Cletus, Zeke and a slender girl named Cheryl who they called Olive Oil. Cheryl was completely baffled by why they called her Olive Oil but she didn't think it sounded disrespectful.

Almost any kind of hard, physical labor can become beautiful, performance art if you put your mind into making the motions smooth, powerful and safe.

Cheryl really struggled at the beginning but Cletus and Zeke coached her on how to lift one end of the eight foot 6"-by-8" posts. They also showed her how to tell the difference between the pressure treated oak and the lighter, softer woods.

After working with the crew for a few weeks, Olive Oil could keep up with the two big guys as long as she stuck to the lighter posts. She dragged the post so one end was next to the hole. She lifted up that end to belly button height and then pivoted along-side of it, allowing the mid-point to bounce on her near-horizontal thigh. As the low end teeter-tottered upward she latched ahold of it and lofted it upward, neatly dropping the descending end into the waiting hole and the rest of the post pertly lofting to vertical.

The crew was working their way in front of one of Nebo's three churches.

The custodian came out and watched for about five minutes, sipping on his coffee. Then he decided to be a gentleman and "help the little lady."

While it is impossible to know what he thought he was going to do it should be noted that he did not come anywhere close to matching Olive Oil's graceful, seemingly effortless caber toss with the oak post that was next in line.

He limped back to his closet and is probably still looking for his truss.

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