On the Level

 Our family bought very few things new; there was little money in those post-depression days. My father did have some tools,probably hand-me down or acquired used somewhere. He had a knack for detail and could build pretty much anything out of almost nothing. And anything he built or repaired was always "trued up." 

  He had a hammer, of course, maybe even 2, because I remember the difference between claw hammer and ball-peen hammer. He had a saw or 2 and when he at last became a home-owner, he built a work bench in the unused part of the garage. On it he had a vice, nails, screws, and of course screwdrivers and pliers and wrenches and such.

   I found tools dull and uninteresting, except for one. That would be the level. When I was really little, he had a level, brown with  green liquid center. I found that fascinating. Remember we lived then in houses with no electricity, and we didn't have many toys. Sometimes on a Saturday night, he would rig up the old radio to a battery and we could listen to The Grand Old Opry. The first radio I remember, a Silvertone,  had a green eye, a light over the dial. I think the light  seemed one and the same with the liquid center of the level.

   I have never been a collector, of anything, but I still have a fascination for levels. I've never bought any but there are several in the house, though not my father's. I was given one on a keyring once and I still have that, though it's no longer on the chain. But my favorite now is this compact steel-gray Stanley. You can assess the levels separately, both horizontal and vertical.   

    I even use it occasionally, not as a tool, but out of curiosity. Strangely enough, though this house was built on a shoestring and rumor was the builder would straighten bent nails rather than throwing them away,, every surface I've tested is perfectly level, floors, windowsills, even doorframes.  Go figure.  (A little off-center, the levels were on a book.