June 4, 2013

painting Evan's room

"Thyme Green," Home Depot called it, and I thought of summer and everything
that blooms there. Later, I lay an old sheet down, fixed blue tape to the edges,
then got to work. The walls were already thick with history. They'd need two coats,
at least. I rolled my brush while she sorted books and cleaned out closets, vacuumed
the next in a series of corners. Soon, someone else will live here, and the house
will fill with new noises and dinners and hand prints and boots in the hallway,
and every joy and sorrow in between. We worked through the afternoon in silence,
with reverence for the space it takes to make change. When we were finished,
it was as if the room was already telling itself a new story, the walls gleaming
from the bittersweet mortar between farewell and hello.