As a child I never liked coloring books. I wasn’t interested in filling in someone else’s drawings. I was always adding my own stuff to the picture and being informed that I was doing it wrong. One of my teachers was a mild 1970s radical. She kept playing Marlo Thomas’ album, “Free To Be You and Me.” It encouraged individuality and I “dug” that concept. However, she was the only teacher who didn’t force me to conform. The ONLY teacher during thirteen arduous years in the public school system.
Perhaps that is why I detest painting the house. I have to follow the lines and make it uniform. I’d love to add sculptural pieces and draw anomalous shapes on the house. The result would probably bring down the resale value. During the 1990s, the artist Tyree Guyton convinced a lady in St. Paul to nail shoes to her house. I actually visited the home and it looked rather cool. However, the shoes eventually rotted and fell off. The nails punctured the insulation and rusted. She had to obtain help from a nonprofit to completely redo her home after a couple years. The artist should have chosen a condemned house to beautify before it was torn down.
A few years ago I painted my garage a light lavender my neighbor nearly had a heart attack. She was afraid that I was going to paint my house purple. She also loved the Twilight series (as a reference). Actually, I’d love to hire a team of artists to paint my home bright tones. But alas, I must stick to the white paint and dark chocolate brown trim that I procured a couple years ago. I can’t afford to even purchase a gallon of paint. Lack of money sucks.
I repainted a large portion of the house and the entire garage several years ago. This year I only need to touch up and have enough white and brown paint to suffice for the house. I am low on lavender so my garage may procure white splotches. I am focusing on exposed wood. Water rots wood and carpenter ants like to chew on wet wood. My schedule and the weather did not cooperate until the 4th of July holiday weekend to work on this chore.
Silly me, I thought that it would be a two-day task. Ha-ha-ha. I had to scrape, fill in gaps with wood filler, let the filler dry, sand the filler, and then prime. Paint two coats and then touch up the drips and drabs. Up and down the short ladder. Three full days and a couple hours on the fourth only completed the majority house touch-ups. Later in the summer I will need to focus on a portion of the porch now covered by sweet pea vines and garage. I still have some furniture to paint and I’d like to repaint the inside of the front porch, too.
Perspiration and exhaustion ensued. Ghastly hot and humid weather. I sweated so extensively that I didn’t need to urinate. At one point I felt woozy. I staggered into the house and gulped down two glasses of water and then had a terrible craving for salt. I opened the saltshaker and literally ate about a teaspoon. About fifteen minutes later I finally began to feel better. I knew enough to end for the day so I took a shower and fell asleep on the couch.
I was bright enough to wear cheap latex gloves while painting. I am rather messy and it reduced the adherence of paint to my hands and fingernails. I had slathered myself down with sunscreen and a layer of mosquito repellant. The paint that attached itself to my skin washed off very easily. Somehow, I managed not to get any into my hair. I am too darn afraid of heights to venture to the second floor windows. They will have to wait until I get a job and can hire someone for the task. Fear of falling while uninsured keeps me grounded.
Feet on the ground.
Copyright © 2013 by Ima B. Musing; All rights reserved.
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