Our first home had a lovely little balcony on it which peeks out to the ocean just over the vacant lot filled with trash.  Honestly, it was a really nice feature of the home and I wish we utilized it more.  One reason we don’t is that there are very few months out of the year when a person can reasonably sit outside and not sweat all the time. However the second reason is that there was an ever-present mold problem.

The balcony was made of red hexagon bricks.  No matter how much I swept or tried to keep it clean, there was always some black colored mold that grew on the tiles.  The only way I knew how to get rid of it was to take some cleaner and go out there and scrub the daylights out of.  The first time I did it, I had a good I’m-taking-care-of-my-home feel.  However, when the mold came back a few weeks later, I was not so happy.

For the next few years I would go back and forth, cleaning, scrubbing, and then watching it all grow back again.  I started to lose hope, but when my son started wanting to go out there on his own, I was renewed with a vigor to keep it clean.  That motivation lasted for a while, but I knew it was still a never-ending battle that I wasn’t excited about.  Scrub, then more mold.  There was no hope.

Our flat society had decided to paint the exterior walls of our building.  The painters worked for a few weeks, painting all the walls white (literally with nothing more than 4 inch paintbrushes).  Then they started doing some of the railings and outside doors too.  One day, I came home and my wife slowly lead me to the balcony.  The painters had put a fresh coat of red paint over all the moldy bricks that made up the balcony floor.

It was one of the best days I’ve ever had in India.

#GiveIn

Photo Credit: spiritchasa on Flickr