Weekend Work

Peels of old paint litter the ground around the perimeter of my home. Workers with old t-shirts and sweaty brows scatter themselves about lathering new colors atop the old, wooden siding. Inch by inch, brush stroke by brush stroke, a new look emerges - fresh paint, different colors, and a new outlook on an old address.

Starting into a project such as this seems simple – buy a few buckets of paint, some brushes, and enlist some help. But every step of the way this weekend proved our simplistic approach to be lacking. There’s more to it than that.

How do we paint behind the climbing vine that graces the front of the house? What do we do with the cable wires, the downspouts, the huge bushes, the fence posts – all backed up to the siding? And what’s the best way to paint trim without slopping it over onto the rest of the house?

Questions and roadblocks posed some frustration to our workdays, but nonetheless, working feels good. Accomplishing feels good. And when you step back and see groups of people with such willing hearts to help, you cannot help but smile.

Last night as I stood at the end of my driveway, saying goodnight to those who had volunteered, I glanced back in the direction of my house. Though not quite complete, the paint colors gave new life, inside lights beamed from the windows, and a beautiful black dog laid in the front entryway peering outside, inviting me in. Ahh… there’s no place like home.