FLUFFWHIMPLES!

It was East Texas. It was August. My buddy and I were laying a new roof on a house. The homeowner was up there with us. It was one of those day-labor type jobs. A two day job, actually. It was an interesting job. We had to do a complete tear-off and lay down. In the process of the tear off, we found a portion of the decking held up by bricks balanced on a ceiling joist!

This family was really nice. They kept a steady stream of Gatorade and such coming. We were all VERY glad. It was hot on that roof!

We got curious on day two about how hot it really was. So, we took a porch thermometer and laid it on the roof around noon. It was one of those big round things you can get at Walmart, or Target, or wherever. Kind of wish we hadn’t done that. It pegged out almost immediately beyond the 120 degree scale—halfway to zero around the bottom!

Anyway, by about two o’clock the second afternoon, the heat was getting to me. I was getting a little loopy. My temper was getting short. Around 3:00 I was laying the cap on one part of the ridge. I don’t know how long I spent trying to get this one shingle to line up. I just remember getting more and more frustrated. I was so mad I just wanted to scream! I just couldn’t get any words to form in my head—or on my tongue.

Suddenly, this voice shouted, “Oh, fluffwhimples!”

I looked around wondering who had said that. I also wondered where someone got avoice that sounded just like mine. Well, my temper was instantly gone. I was, honestly, confused. And, of course, the other two guys were looking at me—totally bewildered.

It actually took us another two hours to finish the last of the roof and the rest of the ridge cap. All the while we looked at each other saying, “What’s a fluffwhimple?”

We never did figure it out. If you happen to know...pass it on!