Olga V. (ESE) - On Renovations

I absolutely adore doing home renovations. I've adored it all my life. I remember when I was in high school, my friends and I had a rather long walk home from school. Those were times of shortages, and white window-frame paint would occasionally be "dropped" onto the shelves—meaning it wasn't regularly available for sale. So, the girls and I are walking from school, and right there on the street outside a hardware store, white enamel paint had just been put on sale. I quickly put my girls in line, confiscate their money, and load them up with the purchased paint cans. Everyone walks along, grumbling, but carrying them. As for me, I'm already feeling dizzy with excitement; I feel like I can't think about anything else except that I want to paint! To paint a window, or a door, or... I imagine with my whole inner being how the brush smoothly glides over the frame, and the paint covers the wood evenly in a thin layer... Oh, and then the waiting for the first coat to dry, the impatience... And before my eyes, a freshly painted window is already shining. But the process is more interesting; there is pure bliss in it, there is work filled with the most subtle sensations, and a desire to complete everything meticulously to get an absolute ideal, smooth and flawless!

Those were my interests at fifteen or sixteen, and, of course, home renovation has been my lifelong passion. My neighbors are terrified of my renovations. I savor the process so much that they catch the bug, and only later do they realize that renovating isn't nearly as much fun for them as it is for me.