I am on the Square to get a sandwich at Café Soleil. The irony of it.
It is a sacred little spot, full of history. Of warm promises. With fresh and honest everything, set against images of farmland and dill flowers. A place of daydreams.
I leave with my brown paper bag, thinking of the Farmer John’s provolone sandwich with apples, pesto mayo and spinach leaves (that one is for someone else) and the chocolate sand cookie with crystals of salt on top (that one is for me).
The Capitol Square is empty. Almost empty.
I take the sandwich home. Home is warm, home is red and brown and golden too. I’ve given up on yellow and blue. Those are Mediterranean colors. In Wisconsin I need red and brown and golden to get me through the grays and blues of the very long winter.
Do you think the man with the red umbrella in your delightful photo proudly carries his red umbrella to put some much needed color in his life? Or did he simply pick up the wrong umbrella?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your "red and brown and golden" color preference. Those colors always give me a nice warm hug. Some people are very aware of the nuances of color and, sadly, others could care less.
One of the best examples of this is in the wonderful Cary Grant - Myrna Loy 1948 screwball comedy "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", Mrs. Blandings (Loy) discusses decor with the builder of her new house.
--Mrs. Blandings: "I want it to be a soft green, not as blue-green as a robin's egg, but not as yellow-green as daffodil buds. Now, the only sample I could get is a little too yellow, but don't let whoever does it go to the other extreme and get it too blue. It should just be a sort of grayish-yellow-green. Now, the dining room. I'd like yellow. Not just yellow; but a gay yellow. Something bright and sunshiny. I'll tell you, Mr. PeDelford, if you'll send send one of your men to the grocer for a pound of their best butter, and match that exactly, you can't go wrong!"
She goes on with instructions for the wallpaper and the kitchen and, finally, the powder room:
"I want you to match this thread, and don't lose it. It's the only spool I have, and I had an awful time finding it! As you can see, it's practically an apple red. Somewhere between a healthy winesap and an unripened Jonathan."
--Mr. PeDelford, the builder: "You got that Charley?"
--Charley, the painter: "Red, green, blue, yellow, white."
--Mr. PeDelford, the builder: "Check."
I know what you mean about needing colors indoors to balance what you're dealing with outside. We're painting soon, and have chosen cool greens and blues to offset the dusty browns, golds, and grays we're surrounded by here in AZ.
ReplyDeleteI just painted one wall red. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteI think it's sweet that the man's tie matches his umbrella. Perfect for a dreary day.
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