Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Color of Happy


Purple is the very best color in the world and when I see it, I feel happy.Okay...to ME, it's the best color in the world. Geez.

My favorite flower isn't a flower at all I don't think. It's the Lilac bush. Our back yard in Oklahoma used to be filled with lilac bushes, among thousands of other beautiful flowering plants, but oh...the Lilacs!
Put me in a purple-ish shirt and take my picture and it's as though I've been Photoshopped. Seriously. Okay...no. But...I do look great in purple.

One of the top 20 songs of my generation? Purple Rain, by the King of Purple himself.

When Eric and I purchased our first ever home together, I painted an entire room Voodoo Purple. I loved that room. It was an incredibly deep shade of purple and my mother-in-law gifted me with a beautiful 8x8 square jewel toned rug with abstract jewel toned squares all over it. One of the colors of the squares was the exact shade of purple on my walls. *sigh*

One of the colors that our new First Lady is fond of is purple. She's been photographed in several outfits that are in hues of purple. It makes me want to hug her. Purple does that to me. Besides which...how totally cool would it be to hug the First Lady??!!

I'm not quite sure when I really began loving purple. I remember as a little girl that pink was my favorite. Hmm... I know that by high school, I was in love with purple. Mmmmhmmm...that's right.

Me, circa 1985

Purple grapes are also my favorite. Not so much for the purple I don't think. They just taste better...but they are pretty, no?

My friend Shannon and I used to talk and drink Merlot and the more she drank the more intense the conversation became. The more she drank, the more purple her teeth became and the more hysterical I would become. I remember vividly her telling me the story about how her mother went to college on a "twirling scholarship" and for some reason, between this new found knowledge and her purple teeth, I was soon holding my sides gasping for breath and had tears streaming down my face in hysterical laughter. I love Shannon, and her purple teeth.

A few years ago I went out for lunch at work with my friends. After seeing that there was "homemade blackberry cobbler" on the menu and inquiring of the owner if this was really homemade cobbler (I was assured it was his grandmother's recipe), I decided that I must have some. My Illinois roots took over, what can I say? Unfortunately, it had been many years since I'd eaten blackberry cobbler and didn't remember what it does to your teeth. It turns them purple. It also turns out that my next meeting after lunch was one at which I was running a meeting for the Board of Directors. I raced back to my office, grabbed my toothbrush and scrubbed viciously at my teeth. No luck. I chewed sugar free "whitening" gum all the way to the meeting. No luck. I arrived at the meeting and stood before all of those men and did the only thing I could do. I said, "I couldn't resist the blackberry cobbler at lunch and now my teeth are purple. If you'll please take notice, they perfectly match my ensemble today, so let's get on with it."

I want Lilacs at my wake. And some purple Iris's. Oooohh. I love those. I'm not planning on exiting anytime soon, I'm just putting in an early request.

That's it. End of blog. Fade to purple....

3 comments:

Angela said...

When I attended my beloved old aunt`s funeral, she lay in a lilac coffin! It was her favorite color, too, and I found it so very thoughtful of her family! We also planted lots of lilacs in our new garden after we moved here a year ago. In two or three years it will look beautiful! If you ever get to Germany, come have a look! I liked your wit in dealing with your lilac teeth, haha.
Came over here via Reya`s.

Amy Do. said...

Hi Amy! I love purple too, because like you said, it's the best color in the world. Remember how wonderful lilacs smell? I haven't seen a lilac bush in probably 20 years, but I still remember them.
What a great photo of you! I remember feathered bangs. You must have been one of those hot, popular chicks in high school. : )

Jennie Wojtaszek said...

We used to have lovely lilac bushes/trees in our backyard in Utah. I love them, especially the purple ones. Purple is also a favorite of mine - and warm autumn color always makes me feel satisfied and peaceful!