Colour and Senses

I was going to write to you about the colour russet brown because I find them such an intriguing combination of words.  But this morning I was colouring in something and thought to myself that even if I didn’t know this picture was a picture from Africa, with the SHADE of the colours, I DO.

Isn’t it an interesting thought that a shade of a colour can tell you what a picture represents?  Just think of Christmas and what colours do you see?  For me it would be fir tree green, crimson red, gold silver and glitter….and white as snow.  Does it also make you think of the smells of Christmas?  They are so gorgeous, aren’t they?  The dinner and dessert….such an amazing time of year.

Now how about my favourite colour…..well, that is clear, I think.  PURPLE!  And yes, it used to be a colour only used by royalty because of the rareness of ability of collecting and using as a dye.  So rich people showed off by using as much of it as they could.  Did you know carrots used to be purple but when William of Orange and Princess Mary of Great Britain conquered Mary’s father James II, as an honorific to William’s place of origin they managed to make carrots orange!  

And yes, I love lilac and lavender.  There is such a broad range of shades in every colour that you can’t really express them all.  Plants can give you a sense of smelling a particular colour sometimes, although some don’t have any scent.  Sight, sound, scent and even touch can be done with bushes, grasses, trees etc - the wonder of nature.  Not only the wonder of nature, but the way it can ground you and help you come back to yourself.

But when I think of the words russet brown, I must tell you it makes me think of autumn time and the rustling leaves as they fall to the ground and the glory of the ability to be able to kick them around and hear the sound that was made.  Or even lying in the middle of them and having someone throw even more leaves on top of you.  And the bonfire to warm you up afterwards.  

I have watched many cooking shows - seriously most of the ones that are on the normal television channels and sometimes I watch the ones on Food Network too.  And they mostly say that people eat with their eyes first and that the colour of the food is important because it helps make you want to eat it.  The sight, sound and smell of it all helps the taste buds desire what’s there in front of you.  Have you ever been to a restaurant and seen a waiter carry food to another table and you suddenly change your mind to eat what has just gone by you?

Our senses are the most important thing we can ever own.  So if all our senses are screaming NO at you, it’s wise to listen.  You see, your senses combined are powerful to understand what is going on around you, or whether things are as they seem to be or not.  I don’t really know exactly how your gut knows, but it really DOES.  There will be SOMETHING that will warn you if something is good or bad.