Michael Hoover: Barely Discernable

We had the plane and hotel reservations and the 105-year-old puppy had his reservations at puppy camp and we thought we would be on our way to Santa Fe for a lovely week of sightseeing and visiting old friends. Instead, my wife and I are painting our house Polar Bear White during this spring break.

Last year we spent spring break soaking up the historic allure of Charleston and the year before that we spent spring break soaking up the sun and exotic ambience of Key West. Both trips were wonderful and have provided enduring memories.

But we really wanted to be together this spring break and the more we thought about it, the more we realized that often the most together we have been is when we are totally and completely submerged in a major project. There aren’t too many projects more submerging than painting the entire insides of your house—all three stories—in just one week.

Our ancient puppy was delighted when we told him we had changed plans and he didn’t have to stay with strangers in puppy camp and he also revealed that he had figured out years ago that our referring to the kennel as “puppy camp” was a euphemism that didn’t really fool him. In addition to being very old, he’s a very smart dog.

Even though the modern style magazines are celebrating the exuberant use of vibrant colors when redecorating your home, we chose to stay with a traditional white and the only decision was which white. If you haven’t painted your house for a long time, you may be surprised to find that there are literally over 200 whites from which to choose. My wife brought home 17 sample swatches from the Behr Paint catalogue, all of which looked about the same to her.

I’m proud to say that I could easily discern the differences among all 17 white samples, owing to my many years as a painting contractor. Almost every teacher I know has had to create a subsidiary career to make ends meet and mine was painting, wallpapering, and landscaping.

When I was 17 I took a summer job as a painter’s assistant for a very small company whose two owners were very knowledgeable about painting, including color discernment. I absorbed as much as I could from those painting masters. In September of that year, I quit the job, distributed a simple flier advertising my painting “expertise” around the neighborhood and, viola, had three job calls before I had even gotten home from distributing my homemade ad. Thus was launched a two-decade career as a house painter in support of a teacher.

All of this boring history is by way of explaining that you really can see the differences among 17 swatches of white if you have a trained eye. Some whites are true whites and others are yellow whites, others are blue whites, and some are even red whites. Polar Bear White, which now occupies the walls and ceilings of six rooms in our home, is a mixture of yellow and umber, though to the naked eye it would appear to be a true white.

One thing I have always liked about painting is that minute by minute you can see the results, much like the satisfaction in mowing a summer lawn that has not been cut in weeks. Each stretch of the paint roller allows you to think to yourself that you are one-fifth done with the job, now two-fifths, now three-fourths. Few jobs allow you to gauge your progress so immediately, certainly not always the teaching profession. Sometimes in teaching you can get immediate feedback from and about students’ progress, other times you don’t know whether you’ve reached a student for days, weeks, or even months. Judging by my mail, a few students even take years before they let you know if you have reached them or not.

Years ago, a friend who taught with me surprised everyone when, on the very first day back to school, he resigned to become a car salesman. When I talked with him later that day he said, “I’m tired of going from year to year and not knowing for sure if what I’ve done is helping kids. In selling cars, at least you get the immediate gratification or immediate disappointment of knowing that you have successfully closed the deal or not.”

I’ve often thought about his statement over the years. At the time I was considering starting my own serious remodeling company. Over three decades later I’m still teaching, still questioning, and still wondering “what if.” I’ve discovered that if you want quick absolutes, teaching is a tough career. If you’re willing to engage in the myriad shades of gray that constitute teaching and learning, then stay with it. It’s similar to detecting one barely discernible color from another. Meanwhile, you need to know that Polar Bear White is softer than a true white, but slightly harsher than Fern White.