White Washing

Been “white washed?” You hear reference by politicians to white washing things as if their opponent has painted over the truth. In Mark Twain’s collection of tales there is the story of how Tom Sawyer was tasked with white washing “Aunt Polly’s” fence as punishment for playing hooky from school.

Tom convinced one boy after another that white washing the fence wasn’t work at all but a lot of fun. Tom eventually collected a load of booty by trading stuff with other boys for the pleasure of white washing the fence.

In the end Tom also learned a valuable lesson: To make something desirable you should make it at least appear difficult to obtain.

White wash is a harmless and nontoxic mixture of powdered lime and water. It has been around a very long time. It can be as thin or thick as you want to make it and functions as a sealant to protect wooden structures.

Old churches were white washed on the outside to give them a clean look and inside to improve vision in unlighted buildings and barns.

Very old paint was a combination of powdered lead suspended in oil with a pigment added. At least one of our old family homes was white washed. It appears to be white washed, but I agree it is a poor image.

Some people like the “look” of white wash because it is thin and the grain of the wood can show through. A white washed appearance is a popular contemporary look described as “distressed.”

The same effect can come from thinning latex paint with water.

White washing barns, cribs and chicken houses was common in the south. It was smarter looking than bare wood and produces a protective layer. There was nothing in white wash that would harm an animal inclined to gnaw at boards.

The back yard of my childhood home in Alma was eventually surrounded by a low picket fence, and it became my task to mix the white wash and apply it. I hadn’t skipped school.

One of the interesting roadside views along southern highways was a line of half-buried vertical standing tires with coatings of white wash. I wouldn’t call it “yard art” but maybe a “tire feature.”

Some decorated their yard trees by white washing the lowest three feet, or as high as they could reach.

It is an effect I thought had finished its run of popularity, but I saw a few tires and white washed pine trees on a recent road trip.

joenphillips@yahoo.com