The Tale of Canyon Dusk – The Story within the Story

The following is a true story. The use of real names is still not coincidental.

Law & Order SFX again: Dun dun

If you read my recent blog post called The Tale of Canyon Dusk, this is the story within the story about the spray painting of the lid of my storage foot stool. This will make sense if you haven’t read it, but, it is best to take six minutes to read the initial story. Following is a re-cap:

I have this old, but durable, large storage foot stool made of faux dark brown leather. You access the inside by taking off the top, padded lid. I decided to finish off the remaining metallic copper spray paint I used on the breaker box for the lid. I had no idea if it would work, but that was part of the fun. The result was actually pretty decent. The lid had a nice, “artsy kinda,” look to it that played well off the dark brown on the rest of the foot stool. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

What I did not tell you in the initial story is my methodology as to how I spray painted the lid. It’s kind of cloak and dagger.

One evening, after sunset, I discretely went out back of where I live with four items: the foot stool lid, some newspaper, the spray paint, and a flash light. It is autumn now, so there is always a chance of frost overnight. Earlier in the evening, the idea of spray painting the foot stool lid found its way out of the depths of my little cranium.

I checked the weather for that night and the next day. All was good: above freezing over night and sunshine with modest warmth the next day. The “Mission” was a go. I wanted to spray paint the lid outdoors because I knew it would take a substantial amount of paint to properly cover it and I did not want to do this indoors. Three main reasons: the paint might spray beyond the extent of the lid and any newspaper under it; there was not enough ventilation, even with my two fans, to dissipate it safely; and the paint on the faux leather would need a long period of time to dry, ergo baking it in the sun the next day. I had to do this outdoors.

I also had to do the painting right away, because the longer range forecast said it might freeze the following night and that it was going to be cold and rainy the next day. It was now or never.

I’m sure if anyone saw me go outside with the four aforementioned items, they would think I was quite daft. Sometimes I wonder about the same thing myself. But, this was big fun. An adventure, if you will, into unchartered territory.

When I got way out back with the paraphernalia I first laid down the newspaper. I still used newspaper because I wanted to protect the grass. Respect nature. You know. I next laid out the target, the foot stool lid. Then, with flashlight boldly in one hand and spray paint can boldly in the other, it was fire away (eat your heart out, Indy). My goodness, it was both cool and fun. For whatever reason, even the spray trigger mechanism was more cooperative than it was before when I painted the breaker box, which was much smaller than the lid.

After a few minutes, Part I of the “Mission” was completed. I did a thorough covering on the lid and expelled all the content in the can. As best as I could tell, everything looked okay. You have to remember that I was doing this covertly at night (so my neighbours would not think I was too daft, lol) using a flashlight, so the lighting was not ideal to assess my work. But, what the heck, time and patience would tell the tale, and I was having a good time. Now, I left the lid, on the newspaper, outside for the night and I went inside with the other tools of my new trade. I wondered if there was some kind of guild I could join.

Time passing music please.

The next morning at a much earlier time than I would prefer, I woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb…sorry, I don’t have much hair anymore. It was time for Part II of the “Mission.” After getting dressed, usually a good idea when you get up in the morning before you go out, I headed outside to the scene of the previous night’s operation (remember, cloak and dagger). The foot stool lid and the newspaper were still there.

I noticed that there was a very thin layer of moisture on the lid. Was this bad? Who knows? I properly disposed of the newspaper that protected the grass and then it was off to my car on foot with the lid. You might be wondering why? The answer is simple. I was going to put the lid on the top of my car to elevate it and maximize the “baking” process using the sun. It made all the sense in the world to me. I’m sure to others it looked like something accidentally left on the roof of the vehicle. But, with me, it was all part of the planned “Mission.” Later that day, I collected the lid off the car. Much to my amazement, it had a nice, “artsy kinda,” look to it as I previously stated. The “Mission” was a success! Risk and reward. I have to admit, I had wondered what I would do if this whole “spray painting the lid thing” did not work out and the lid was unusable. But, I was as confident as a little kid in a Superman costume.

And there you have it, the story within the story of The Tale of Canyon Dusk. I want to conclude with some great news for you; I don’t plan on painting anything else for some time to come.