THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

Another contest.  For Behr paint.  They are going to send someone around the U.S. to look for new colors for their palette.   Their first color explorer, as they have named their future choice of renegade, who will go out into the far reaches of North America, to tread where no one had set foot before, to find elusive tints that no one has ever seen or, at least, described until now.  Obviously, given my obsession with color, I couldn’t resist submitting something although, in all honesty, I am looking forward to spending an uninterrupted summer in Florida with my two cats whom I have abandoned for the last two years.   Still, I can’t argue:  such an assignment would be heaven for a color aficionado such as me.   And, after all, they are paying a $10,000 stipend plus all travel expenses.

Why not?  What have I got to lose?    Only 150 words and I do love the challenge of a word limit.  I probably should have worked for a newspaper.

Of course, I didn’t do the task; I couldn’t.   They asked us to write about ONE color and why we  like it.  How could I possible choose one when they all make my heart pitter patter, albeit in different ways?   I remain mystified as to how hearing about one color will allow the judges to choose someone to run around and dig up new colors – plural – and new names – also plural – for their discoveries but I am sure that they know what they are doing.  Perhaps you have to use more adjectives and imagery if you only write about one color.

In addition to the pleasure of color hunting,  part of the job will be to name new shades in the Behr line of pigments.   So, if the lure of having one’s sole work to be finding new colors in the various nooks and crannies of the American outback isn’t enough of an enticement, being able to name new colors would be the “cat’s meow” for a color-addicted linguist,  which just happens to be who I am.    Persnickety parsnip (a yellowish shade of beige with flecks of cinnamon. Phantom lavender (so pale that it seems to disappear the longer you look at it). Honeycomb yellow.  Moon-in-the-clouds (white with threads of silver).  Turquoise sun (a blue with a golden sheen), mulberry magic   I mean, be serious, the possibilities are endless when it comes to naming colors.

Who wouldn’t want to get paid to do this?    Even if it meant giving up a summer of dozing to the soothing rumble of feline bliss…

I  fully anticipate that I will be automatically disqualified  for not following the instructions but, at my age, following directions when they don’t make sense to me falls very low on my list of priorities, much to the dismay of many, I fear.  Perhaps they will post the winning submission and I will  understand what they had in mind.   In the meantime, I had fun doing the task in my own way.

Eye candy!   I cannot choose one.  Colors are magic: from the dazzling lights of Diwali to the inspired designs of Indian saris; from the tender pastels of Indonesian sarongs to elegant shades of Chinese brocade; from vibrant tones of Kenyan kitenge to opulent tapestries in a Moroccan souk; from earthen hues of Japanese Bizen pottery to delicate tints used by Buddhist monks to sculpt flowers from butter; from the breath-taking palettes of Tibetan mandalas to the lively kaleidoscope of Nepalese house paints – melon, indigo, coral, chartreuse, primrose, orchid, crimson.  My eyes drink in rainbows and thirst for more.   My heart sings with the passion of vermilion, the dauntlessness of blazing lemon, the warmth of cinnamon, the stillness of slate, the serenity of teal, the sorrow of ash, the ecstasy of gold, the kindness of rose, the raucous laughter of orange, the chill of sapphire, and the incomparable bliss of violet.