fifty shades of gray...

Please don't get too excited!  I'm not referring to the steamy book or movie by that title, but to the rather overwhelming number of paint choices when trying to pick out new bathroom colors!  After installing a beautiful new shower, I decided to ditch the rather bright "Tuscan sunset" coral shade in my master en suite (I love using this word simply because the juxtaposition of the rather pretentious en suite with the reality of my teeny tiny bathroom makes me chuckle). 

Paint swatches in hand, I set off optimistically for Home Depot, a store I frequent so often I think I'm on a first name basis with most of the staff.  I had decided a very light gray on the walls, with complementary dark gray cabinets, would be a great color combination to replace the coral walls and weird whitish/silvery cabinets.  How hard could it be to find the right colors?  After all, gray is gray, right?

But oh my - so many shades of gray!  Blue, green or purple undertones, metallic grays, flat grays, greeny grays, bluey grays, and some grays that look almost taupe!  And then there was the lighting - what looked great in the store didn't necessarily look right in the room's natural light.  I had chosen a lovely print for the wall, and holding the samples next to the print made me think I almost needed a taupey gray.  But I had already purchased navy blue rugs and towels for a pop of color, and they didn't look as vibrant against the taupe.  Decisions, decisions!

And then, taking a break from painting to attend a concert in Milwaukee,  I discovered that gray was following me everywhere.  The skies were gray.

And the view outside our hotel window was definitely industrial gray!

And while not exactly gray, the interior of the hotel was about as beige-y boring as it gets...

Even the one semi-interesting piece of art was a taupe/gray!

I need a color infusion! In the midst of all this gray-ness, Mary Oliver offers hope for the blandness of life right now.  My bathroom will get finished, and more importantly, the sunshine will soon return (I hope!!) and spring will arrive and unpack her bags and settle in for a nice long visit.   Until all of that actually happens, we need to hold on to the idea of spring and the return of color to the world, like Oliver does in her poem Walking to Indian River.

Walking to Indian River

I'm ready for spring, but it hasn't arrived.

Not yet.

Still I take my walk, looking for any

early enhancments.

It's mostly attitude. I'm certain

I'll see something.

I start down the path, peering in

all directions.

The mangroes, as always, are standing in their

beloved sater,

their new leaves very small and tender

and pale.

And, look! the way the rising sun

strikes them,

they could be flowers

opening!

May your day be filled with unexpected pops of color and joy!  And please remember...