The Drip Mark

Sometimes it’s all about love and catching the drips. Life opens up all sorts of opportunities to show love and when you look carefully, painting slats is one of those occasions. Some will be familiar with the word “slat”. In this case it’s one of those flat pieces of wood that comprise the sides of a crib. The crib was black, it’s now blue. We’ve discovered that a boy is coming to the house and will sleep in the crib located in the former “man cave” until the man my daughter married finishes school and the three of them move into a house for three instead of a double wide for two, soon to hold five.  I’m sure I’m not the only one out there undergoing this experience and yes, I do have expectations for this guy and so far he has done alright. He’s a “work in progress” you might say and we are progressing.  

It pains me to admit it but he will soon be an alumnus of the University of Georgia, and that’s what we expected. The good news is he will be the only UGA alum in the house (WAR EAGLE) but at least he can read. Setting expectations for anyone is a good thing and can occur at any age. 

My wife set them for me when we were newly-weds and I brought home a pair of diamond studded earrings that did not meet her expectations. She said, “Nope” I’m a little more valuable than these.” And you know what? She was and is. From that day on I became more knowledgeable about jewelry  because she was worth keeping and keeping in a state of marital bliss …plus I figured she’d learn more about cooking as I learned more about jewelry. Today I’m at 225 and she’s got more bling than a rock star. Now I’m not saying life is all about jewelry, I do have other assets, but an occasional bracelet or necklace does seem to help the mood around the house. But I digress. 

Back to the slat. Some people enjoy painting, most do not and while slat painting can be done with spray, the crib must be done with the brush because painting with a brush shows the loving, caring nature of the painter and gives off no harmful fumes. We’re becoming very fume conscious around here. So we have these boards (slats) running horizontal into other boards and these other boards running vertically into the floor. The horizontal boards require the brush be angled a certain way and moved horizontally and the vertical boards require painting with the grain and watching for the drip. Turning the brush vertical on the horizontal board is akin to “cleaning” the brush on that board and the paint destined for the board ends up on the floor or running down the vertical board causing what is referred to as a “drip mark”. 

The “drip mark” is an indicator that the one painting did not go to technical college for painting, was in too much of a hurry or just did not give a rat’s arse about the job to begin with. Not good when one is painting the grandson’s future bed. All care must be made to show that we are totally into the project. Failure to show we are totally into the project results in the “you do not love us” syndrome which is indefensible in the court of home.  So… no drips and everyone stays happy in the home. It takes a special person to be a crib slat painter for a grandson. Patience, good vision and the ability to convey love by catching the drips before they leave the wrong impression are all important factors. I expect it was something I was born to do.