Coral Cupboard

Some time back -- ten, maybe fifteen years ago -- I decided it would be nice to paint the inside of my kitchen cabinets red -- or rather, a coral-ish red. Just a nice surprising pop of color when I opened a cabinet, I thought,  would be refreshing.

And I thought and thought about it and now and then brought home paint chips of the sort of color I envisioned but it remained a 'someday' project -- hardly necessary but fun.

Then, finally, last year, when I had turned in the manuscript for The Day of Small Things, I actually went and bought some paint, mixed to what, according to the paint chip, was just the color that had been haunting me, lo these many years.

Well, you know how that goes. Suddenly I was caught up in writing Under the Skin -- and playing catch up from the beginning. The brave little can of coral paint languished in a dark corner, collecting dust. 

Yesterday dawned hot and humid and it seemed a good time for an indoor project -- preferably one that could be executed in front of a fan and listening to a recorded book.

In fact, it seemed a good time to begin the coral paint project!

I began with the cupboard where my spices and baking supplies, teas and vitamins stay.  Just getting things out, deciding if they really needed to be tossed out or if the jars only needed a good wipe -- that part took well over an hour.  

Finally though, the cupboard was empty and wiped down with alcohol in hopes of providing a clean surface for my long-awaited coral paint. I pried open the can and began.


Horrors! What appeared was a dreadful Pepto-Bismal pink! I mean, REALLY awful! 

Arrgh!

 The dab of dry paint on the can's lid, however, was the coral-ish red I'd wanted and I know that paint color changes as it dries so, only slightly daunted, I painted on, enjoying  Neil Gaiman's Ananzi Boys as I worked.

Three coats later, it settled down to a more respectable coral -- not yet as dark as the color on the paint can lid but okay by me. After all. it would be mostly hidden when I put things back.

Later in the evening, as I was doing the dishes after supper, I glanced at my handiwork and was startled by a quick flash of memory -- when I was growing up, our neighbors had an outdoor party room with a tiny enclosed bar. I think that I remember this coral color back there -- behind the shelves? Inside the cabinets? 

I can't be sure -- but is it possible I've been carrying this idea  -- not ten or fifteen years but over fifty? 


And what other projects does my subconscious have in store for me?


First I'd better finish those other cupboards.