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Gary Borders: Tackling big projects 'bird by bird' is the way to go

Gary Borders

When not working at endeavors that help pay the bills, I burn daylight repainting our house’s exterior. The heat has abated to a manageable level, so I hope to finish before it gets too cold for paint to stick. This is a big project — a two-story dwelling with a couple balconies, several levels of eaves, and faded gutters.

I have been painting houses, inside and out, since I was a teen-ager. My dad, a sign painter, put me to work coating out sheets of plywood for signs he was making in his studio.

My dad enlisted me to paint our house on South Twelfth Street, more than once it seems, because my mom would get bored and demand a different color. In college, a friend and I started a modest painting business. I can still drive through Nacogdoches and point out the few houses whose exterior we painted. They have long ago been repainted, of course.

There is only one way to approach painting a house of our size without becoming overwhelmed. It’s the same way I approach long-form writing projects: The old “How do you eat an elephant?” adage: One bite at a time. As I slog away on a biography that I have resumed researching and writing, it differs little in how I must mentally gear up to paint the house. If I allow myself to think about how much more needs to be done, what files must be perused, chapters written, libraries mined, it is easy to become discouraged. But one bite at a time and the task becomes manageable.

Writer Anne Lamott calls it “Bird by Bird.” Here’s her account. Her older brother had put off writing a report on birds for months. It was due the next day. “He was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

I love that story.

So on Labor Day I started painting a bite-sized portion of the house, up on the roof before the asphalt shingles got too hot to walk upon. Music played, probably too loudly for the neighbors. I was off in my own world.

My dad taught me to hold a brush like a pencil to maintain control. I don’t worry about getting paint on myself, since it’s latex and washes off easily. But I am fastidious about not dripping paint where it doesn’t belong — on shingles, for example. He also instilled the moral imperative of properly cleaning the brush so it can be used repeatedly. Buy high-quality brushes and clean them thoroughly, he said, and I do.

I like to paint. Most people don’t, but I find it both fulfilling and relaxing. I have solved many of the world’s problems while painting — and created a few more as well. It is satisfying to step back when done and visually feast upon a tangible accomplishment.

I quit painting on Labor Day just before lunchtime, climbed down, cleaned the brush and put everything up. Then, as all men do, I went back outside to admire my work. I walked around planning where next to attack. Maybe Saturday, I’ll knock out one of those balconies, with dozens of spindles on the railings. Slow going.

After a dip in the pool, it was back in front of the computer, transcribing correspondence between my biographical subject and a congressman. I have spent more than 50 hours going through this material, for a single chapter.

Bird by bird.

One bite at a time.

Gary Borders has been an East Texas journalist and editor for more than 40 years. He works now as a freelance writer, editor and photographer. You can see his work at garyborders.com. He has written for World Wildlife magazine, Texas Monthly, Texas Observer and Airstream Life.