The Deacon’s View
Parakeet Green and Postal Blue

It is summer and I love having time in my garden.  I decided to add some color, not just with flowers, but also with paint.  “Pops” of bright color to draw the eye, to invite into, color on a bench, a gate, a trellis.
    I chose Parakeet green and Postal blue to start.  When Bill saw the paint cans, each with a bright dollop of the enclosed color in the lid, he said very quietly, “Gay, I don’t know what you are going to do with this paint, but I need to tell you I really HATE these colors.” So I made a deal with him that if he didn’t like what I did, I would re-paint.  I wasn’t too concerned, because what was to hate about Parakeet green or Postal blue?
    I started with the gate.  Parakeet green.   Just as I was finishing, Bill came around the corner.
Bill:  “Oh my God! You put PAINT on the gate.  And that color is screamingly awful.  It makes the gate stand out.”
Gay:  “That’s  just what I wanted...to invite people to enter into the space that lies beyond the gate.”
Bill: I’m not sure where this conversation is going.  But, I just can’t believe you put paint on the wooden gate.”
Gay: “What‘s wrong with paint on the wooden gate?  We just put paint on the wooden house?”
Obviously we were heading into a murky area here.
    As I gazed at the gate, I had to admit the color wasn’t quite what I had in mind.  Maybe Apple green would have been better.  But we still had leftover paint from the house, so I added a cup of this to the Parakeet green, and repainted the gate.  We both agreed on the result: we both hated it.
    And here, as in Job, is where the friends came in.
Friend #1: “I love the idea of inviting people to enter further into what lies beyond.  But you need to paint the gate petunia red.”  As she said this, she plucked a red petunia blossom and handed it to Bill saying, “This is the color.”
Friend #2: “Gay, I know what you're doing.  I just painted the exposed beams in the living room Goldenrod yellow.  Go for it, and call me and tell me how it goes.”
Friend #3:  Mmm. Bill really seems to have some deep connection with the gate.  Was there some trauma in his childhood that involved a gate?  I think you need to strip all the paint off the gate immediately.  To keep re-painting it could be leading him into deeper trauma.”
Daughter:  Mom I love the idea, but you are using colors form the blue spectrum and Dad is definitely from the dark golden yellow.
So, I repainted the gate again.  It is now the color of the house.  Bill came up with an idea for adding a “punch of color”, and we both really like it.  The bench is now Postal blue, which Bill loves and I like, though it is a bit tame.  Yesterday Bill said, “Why don’t you paint some of the large terra cotta pots Postal Blue, and maybe a yellow one too?”
    Have a great summer, relax and renew.  Stop by for some iced tea.  Enjoy the gate, only DON’T open it!  The inviting space beyond is filled with paint cans and bags of fertilizer.

                                  Blessings, Deacon Gay