Barn Paint

August 16, 1990

Take an old road going nowhere, one lane, grass overgrown, piled with dry leaves, that leads on and on past gray barns, peeling posters of a circus come and gone. Then you will remember wooden barrels to catch rain and snow where old nails, hinges, horseshoes would be tossed to rust, to glow into a flame-colored blend with skim milk. There you have the recipe for the red paint background for Bull Durham, for Burma Shave.