Two kinds of people

This is what it looked like at midnight when I went to bed. This morning I'll touch up the trim where I hit it with a brush and then clean up.

This is what it looked like at midnight when I went to bed. Hoping elves will have cleaned it up.

The other day I was complaining to my pal Barbara that I was having trouble reaching a high spot. “I hope you are getting those tall men in your house to help you with your painting, she replied.

I stared at her in horror (totally wasted, because we were IMing over Facebook). “I would never let my husband paint in our house,” I replied. “Never.” This is not some radical put-down on my part, but based on 35 solid years of experience.

Brian Pahucki's tile calculations.

Brian Pahucki’s tile calculations.

Chrissy Spoor Pahucki recently asked her husband to calculate the square footage of their kitchen floor. I’m used to deciphering bad drawings and I was perplexed. Chrissy should be even better than me at figuring out the inscrutable; she teaches middle schoolers. “I felt like trying to figure out the square footage of the kitchen floor based on Brian’s diagram was the worst Common Core math problem ever,” she said.

Our inner foyer door is out having its leaded glass repaired.

The leaded glass is being fixed. I think this is a very welcoming look.

My husband is a very good problem-solver. He once built a duct that hooked on to our high-efficiency fireplace insert and drew the heat through the house’s duct system. “It worked perfectly,” he complained. “And people wouldn’t use it, just because it was ugly.” Ugly doesn’t begin to describe a giant tube of galvanized metal snaking across the living room floor. On the other hand, he’s the reason why this house runs efficiently.

Filled, sanded, primed... that takes all the time.

Filled, sanded, primed… that takes all the time.

I suffer a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder when it comes to wall surfaces. My husband is a good counterpoint there, pointing out that there is no deeper meaning to be gained from a flawlessly prepped surface.

See, I’d be insulted if you told me I painted walls like a pro. I think I do it far better than that.

Carol Douglas

About Carol Douglas

Carol L. Douglas is a painter who lives, works and teaches in Rockport, ME. Her annual workshop will again be held on the Schoodic Peninsula in beautiful Acadia National Park, from August 6-11, 2017. Visit www.watch-me-paint.com/ for more information.