Not only did Howard not give a tinker’s damn about the landscape, he didn’t give a damn about the color scheme of the house either. Anita could decorate the house as she pleased. If forest green was what made her happy, than it was acceptable to him. He might have objected to Shocking Pink or a Fruity Lavender as a color motif, but the forest green Anita had chosen was reminiscent of the green tights (Rendered as dark grey on the black and white display of the pre-color TV of his childhood, but often described in lurid detail in the program’s dialog.) worn by the hero of his youth, Richard Green. As a child he had often imagined himself being a green-garbed outlaw pursued by an inept and stupid shire sheriff. Lincoln green was a comfortable color for him to be surrounded with. Unconsciously, he associated the color with the security of being hidden from “official” eyes and being cared for by the bounty of the forest.

 

The dark wood of the oak furniture Anita had chosen and the green color of the décor had fit in perfectly with Howard’s unconscious desires. He never remembered how contented he was watching “Robin Hood” on the floor in his diapers in front of the TV while munching on animal crackers as a tot. His inflexible fundamentalist mother fumed daily with her equally intolerant friends at their morning coffee klatch that the ungrateful wretch of a child had been unable to master toilet-training at the advanced age of two years. All he could remember of that time was a love of independence that his hero had so boldly demonstrated to his young audience. The concept of freedom of action was inculcated into Howard’s personality at an early age. Robin Hood didn’t have a mommy to make HIM take a nap! He was free to do as he pleased! No King or woman (even a mommy) bounded Robin Hood’s actions!

 

As a result of Howard’s indifference to the décor of the household and its décor, Anita’s desires held full sway. Everything of importance that was made of fabric, from the bath towels to the comforter on the bed, was a lush shade of forest green. When she couldn’t find th exact shade of deep green that she needed, she substituted a Lincoln green instead. After a time, the house took on a verdant, luxuriant look of a primeval forest. The dark rich walnuts and red mahoganies of the pseudo-Mission furnishings combined with the forest greens to transform their abode into a welcoming cave of forest delight. For Anita, the house symbolized home and all the love she had invested in their marriage. The dark wood colors denoted the deep-rooted strength of her beliefs while the greens symbolized her feelings of love and hope. Not coincidentally, Anita had come from a wooden-floored home with a strong Irish-Catholic background. The shade of forest green she had selected unconsciously was the exact shade of green that her parents had hung about their house every St. Patrick’s Day in a fit of patriotic Irish fervor. Although she had stopped going to Mass in college and never returned, she found the color she selected for her décor gave her the same feelings of security that she had had as a child.