** note
Bright "Green" Idea
Let me tell you a story of woe! It’s a tale of paint fumes, body ache
and irritation beyond that which a normal man can handle. I know this
because I watched my husband try to handle it, and fail.
I had a bright idea one day, "Let's paint the front bathroom a nice
shade of green", I cheerfully announced on an unsuspecting Bob!
"Green, Are you sure you want green in there with all the light pink
tile?" Bob asked on more than one occasion. I of course insisted green
was the way to go! After all green and pink look lovely together. Why
they resemble nature and the very flowers in my garden!
So, off to the hardware store we went to choose a shade of green! I
had no idea there were that many shades of green! There were yellow
greens, blue greens, gray greens, and even Khaki greens. We finally
settled on the color Summer Mist. I loved the name of it! It seemed so
pretty on that little one inch swatch! It really did!
After it was finished, I knew it was wrong. It really was a bit too
minty; "You can see the blue undertones" I tried to convince us that
it was just what we wanted. Bob glared at me as he cleaned the minty
paint from his hair and the paint brushes. We put all the pictures
back, the knick-knacks, and the towel racks with the pretty "matching"
sage green towels. When the bathroom was complete, a friend stopped by
and asked why we painted our bathroom industrial green.
After only one day, I couldn't take it anymore; "Oh Bob! What are we
going to do about that green bathroom", I cried! He just glared at me
and mentioned something about how it was fine and it was going to stay
fine; or something like that. "But Bob, it's terrible", I had now
worked up a few genuine tears! Bob didn't smile as he grabbed the car
keys, mumbled something to me and off we went.
Back at the hardware store, and back at the paint sample trays, Bob
and I once again stared at the many shades of green. I was definitely
scared, but at least this time I knew what I didn't want! I wanted
something a little more sagey, I told the sales clerk. He directed me
to a different area where there were lovely shades of sage, and moss,
and tree sprigs. We finally chose Spring .. um.. something or other.
It was definitely sagey.
Well, it it now 9:00 pm. The bathroom is a lovely shade of green. A "sagey"
shade of green this time! The pink tiles are in their full glory, the
pictures are up, the matching sage towels are hung and the shower
curtain is draped lazily over the tubs edge. Bob is muttering
something under his breath while he washes the new green paint out of
the brushes and his hair. It still smells of fresh paint in the
hallway. Just a little reminder of my bright "green" idea!
Denise Chase 2005
** Just so everyone knows, this is
a 100% true story! Bob and I are laughing as we read this together!
(I'm just glad he's not mad anymore!) :o)

Another Story: The world
appears to me to be fickled.
A wave named Christmas has come and gone, the values of kindness and
giving have been elevated and crashed on the beach. The next wave? The
New Year, the values of growth and goals are pushing up into the
forefront. More