Paint Day

If memory serves correctly, I remember this one time .....

Boarding a bus one day with my dad in OKC, OK. We road down to Walters, OK where my dad's parents lived. The bus ride was great fun and an adventure for me. Mom and my sisters came later in the car so that after the work and visiting took place, we could all ride home together.
I remember those present being dad and myself, uncle Roy and aunt Myrtie, grandad Smith and grandma Smith.
We were at my grandparents to paint their house exterior. This included the wood roof which was extremely steep. The house exterior was to be white and the roof was to be red.
Once we arrived I began playing. Cars in the dirt, kick the can, terrorizing the chickens, etc. While living in town, grandma still had chickens in a penned area behind her house. Behind the pen were railroad tracks and I had very strict orders to stay away from those tracks.
I had my baseball bat and ball with me. This was a small toy bat about 18 inches long and made of oak I think. I still have this bat and it has a few drops of the red roof paint on it to this day.
A couple of times during the day the men would stop work and we would play ball in the front yard. I was maybe four years old and not good at hitting yet. They were patient and pitched to me at a very short distance. Once the ball was hit, I would run the bases. This is my oldest memory of playing baseball.
Late during the afternoon, there was a bit of an accident. Fortunately no serious long-lasting effects. The front gable was very tall and the ladders could not reach. Uncle Roy tied two ladders together and sent my dad up with a bucket of paint and a brush. I was just inside the front screen door when I heard aunt Myrtie scream. I looked out and the ladders were falling. Then down came dad landing on the sidewalk below. He hopped up but his hip was hurting him pretty bad. Next thing I remember is aunt Myrtie giving uncle Roy an earful of what-for. She let him have it pretty good. This was very interesting for a small boy like me. Adults getting worked over instead of kids. Huh!
During the course of painting the roof they had to be careful. It was so steep that a rope was tied to a car bumper, thrown over the roof, and tied around the painter's waist so he could pendulum side to side while painting. About 40 years later I heard Paul Harvey (the radio personality) telling a very similar story. His finished very differently, in that while the man painted, his wife came out to go shopping. She got into the car and drove off. After dragging him over the roof's crown, he hit the ground pretty hard, and then was dragged two blocks before someone shut her down. I think he lived.