To suggest a business or profession for Michael to try "Working in West Virginia," contact him at (304) 720-6562 or mhupp@statejournal.com.

Some kids never grow out of the artistic joy of making mud pies, they just progress to more creative outlets such as pottery or drywall.

Roger and Mark Thompson of Hamlin have been playing in the mud for a combined total of 52 years choosing drywall as their muse. Roger, 48, started hanging sheetrock when he was 16 years old and has been finishing for more than 25 years. Mark, 38, has been hanging and finishing drywall for 20 years.

They take pride in their work starting everyday at 7:30 A.M. for weeks at a time, no days off. They are two of just a handful of drywallers left in the area according to the uncle-nephew duo.

"We've done this for a long time," Mark said.

"It seems like our whole lives because it really has been a life-long career," Roger said. "I have done this a long time in a lot of different places."

The day I was on the job, we went to finish a house at The Ridges on U.S. 119 between Alum Creek and Charleston.

Finishing is the final process of drywall where mud and tape is spread to fill in the cracks created by the sheetrock. The mud is spread with several coats, nails are "spotted" or covered with mud to hide the holes, and then it is all sanded to make flush with the wall. Ceilings are either slicked, which means no designs or "stomped" giving the ceiling texture by using various brushes.

The Ridges is an upscale development being built by AB Contracting of Point Pleasant. The particular house we finished is a mansion compared to my modest two-bedroom shotgun house. With three floors and 20 rooms, excluding closets, this job was obviously going to be a task.

My job for the day was to basically be a gopher. You know. Go for things. I mixed buckets of drywall mud, a white substance I know from experience is durable enough to use as a replacement for Bond-o when in a jam.

I spotted nails, swept floors, moved Roger along on scaffolding as he finished the 30-foot cathedral ceilings and took scrap pieces of sheetrock to the dumpster. The work is back-breaking and thankless.

I watched amazed as a tall and lanky Roger spread mud along "butt joints" with the greatest of ease and walked on stilts to finish the hard-to-reach places. He looked more like a circus performer than laborer.

Mark is more the muscle of the operation, swiping the ceilings with mud on big rollers resembling a painter as his big arms made the telescopic pole brush look like a Q-Tip. All in all, it is a lesson in orchestrated chaos. I feel confident I could do what these guys do and start to hope I am asked to give it a try.

Just when I thought my day could not get any tougher for this desk jockey, I was introduced to another not-so-favorite duty of the drywaller: scraping the "big bird drops" off the floor.

For the common man, "big bird drops" are the dried mud that falls on the floor when finishing. I am introduced to the task with a scrapper to my hand. I must say the name is appropriate.

I had the privilege of getting on hands and knees while taking my scrapper and getting all the dried globs off the floor, before sweeping up mountains of dusty debris. I foolishly asked Roger when I was going to be able to do something more glamorous such as running tape or texturing the ceilings with the cool brushes. His response was not promising.

"I did not let Mark run tape or finish for almost two years before he got good enough to finish," Roger said. "What makes you think you can do it? So go downstairs, and grab me another bucket of mud."

My back and dreams of drywall glory were shattered in that simple statement as I lugged two, 50-pound buckets of mud up what seemed like 30 stairs.

Not all of the experience was bad, though. There is something rewarding and simple about the two mens' job. Like artisans before them, working the mud gives the "finisher" a since of accomplishment. Taking mud, tape and sheetrock to give a house its basic personality is rewarding. I actually saw firsthand how amazing it was to watch a house take its basic personality and felt a small sense of pride, despite only having the menial task of mixing the mud.

"It is simple, yet hard work, but it is good to see the house finished when it was nothing but boards under a roof before we get in," Roger said.

It's messy, it's dusty, it's tedious and overall it is a hard job. But the simplicity is alluring. Like any other job you have to answer to someone. In this instance, you answer to the contractor. But overall, it is just you and your hands creating a finished product. If I ever lose my love for the pen, maybe a change to the blade will work for me. I can play in the mud and bring back my inner-child. Then again after two Motrin, a cold beer and a heating pad, maybe I'll just stick to the quill.