Turning the Corner
Last summer, we painted the cottage...OK, we painted MOST of the cottage. It was a lot of hard work and definitely a team effort. My parents were in town for our family reunion (and their 50th wedding anniversary!) and did a lion's share of the work. My mom, in her early seventies, was a driving force and a shining example - as the one who was "least afraid of heights," she did most of the work from the top of the ladder, while I kept my feet firmly planted on the ground. There was something exhilarating about racing the weather to get one whole side completed... until we looked at the next side and realized just how much was still left to do!
We decided to just paint the front and the back of the cottage for the party, to present a welcoming facade as family and friends arrived, and to act as a backdrop for the group photos. We joked about handing each guest a dripping paintbrush as they arrived so they could drag it along the side wall as they made their way from parking in the back to the party down by the waterfront... but the partial paint job stayed that way most of the summer. It's funny how often projects get stuck at that point; the most visible parts get done quickly and with great fanfare and excitement, and the last bits sort of fade into oblivion, as enthusiasm or time run out.
But not in this case. One unseasonably warm day in the middle of autumn, I took a brush, a paint can and ladder and worked most of the day painting one of the side walls as high as I could reach. And now, as the snow continues to melt and we turn the corner from winter into spring, my fingers are starting to itch for the paintbrush, to get back at it and finish that one remaining wall. Wish me luck.