There are so many colors in the rainbow. Which one are you?

Rating: Orange

My dad first introduced me to Harry Chapin when I was in high school.  For those of you who do not know who Harry Chapin is (shame on you), he is the guy who sang “Cat’s in the Cradle.” 

While I love all of his music (and played it weekly on my college radio show along with my other favorites- Billy Joel and Bob Dylan), the song that has stuck is the first one my dad played for me, “Flowers are Red.” 

It is a story about this little boy who skips of to school with a creative spirit and a song on his tongue:

          “There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
                            So many colors in the flower and I see every one”

Meanwhile, his teacher thinks that he should color inside the lines: 

          “Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
                                              There’s no need to see flowers any other way
                                         Than the way they always have been seen”

 The song continues until the teacher manages to crush the little boy’s humongous spirit and he only sees red and green when he looks at the flowers.

This song acts as a moral signpost for me as I go about my day.  On one hand, it makes me think of the power that a teacher can have over a student, and it humbles me.  It makes me think about what it is that I am saying to my students and what impact I am have on them. 

On the other hand, it makes me think about how we want to make such clean divides when we see the world.  No, flowers cannot be purple or pink or orange.  Flowers are red.  Any flower that isn’t red must be a mutant flower.  Duh.

This is the way that I think many people view the world, dividing it up into colors and associating those colors with good and bad traits. 

It is about time we start focusing on the hues and the tones, rather than alienating people based on how we categorize them. 

 Jasper Fforde points out the Shades of Grey 

In Shades of Grey: A Novel by Jasper Fforde, the world is run like a color scheme.  Humans can no longer see every color and each person’s value in society is based on which color he can see and how strong his color recognition is. 

A Blue will marry a Red so that they can have Purple children.  A Red is not simply a red.  Their name and wealth depends on how strong of a red they are.  A Burgandy trumps a Russet, which will probably trump a Cinnamon. 

Among the various colors, there is also a hierarchy, and traits associated with each color. I have listed the colors from the most respected to the least respected (as I remember) as well as traits that the protaganist pointed out with each.

                                                                                 

Purple- Royal, Powerful

                 Yellow- Controlling, Greedy

                                        Green- Condescending, Nosy

                                                                 Blue- Scholarly

                                                                                      Red-Easy-going and Intelligent

                                                                                                            Grey- Working-class, poor

Three guesses which color our main character belongs to?  Ding Ding Ding! Red!  Yay!  As you can see, in this society, you do not tend to think well of people outside of your color. 

Eddie Russet is an all-around, decent fellow who is looking to marry an Oxblood, which would greatly improve his station.   One misstep on his part, however, and he is sent out to the outer regions of his known territory to complete his punishment.  There. he meets a series of interesting characters who challenge his preconceived notions of color barriers.  Even more scandalous, he meets a Grey named Jane who has quite the adorable nose.  The fact that she hates him with a passion does not deter him, but leads him even further into the mystery surrounding her. 

All of a sudden, his perspective of the world as ruled by colors is altered and his new life plan looks more like  a Jackson Pollack painting than a color wheel. 

This book is a bit slow to get into, but once you are involved, you won’t be able to put it down.  I LOVED it and cannot wait for the next book to come out…in 2014.

If you had to be a color, which color would you be?  What traits would you bring to your color?

Read on for my color of choice and the accompanying recipe. 

I am a Blueberry

While reading the book, I tried to figure out what color I would be if I lived in that world.  I decided I would be in the blue realm.  The one blue character we really get to know is a librarian who loves books and abides by the rules, but is also willing to break them if she deems it necessary.  She was my favorite character and I decided that if I have to be a color, I want to be related to her. 

Of course, this decision was not at all influenced by the fact that blue has been my favorite color for the better part of my life!  I had a great deal of trouble deciding whether I would be a Blueberry or a Periwinkle.

In honor of my newfound color, I decided to invent a treat that would honor blueberries.  I am pleased to say that this treat is actually pretty darned healthy and nutritious, as well as beautifully blue!  Even better, since I am honoring my own color, I managed to include some of my very favorite foods into this snack. 

Fruit and Nut Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Oatmeal
• 1 cup Flour (I used oat flour, but regular all-purpose should be fine)
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 4 oz Jam (I used Marmalade because I love orange and berry together.  Use whatever you think will taste good)
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 1 1/2 cups Blueberries (I used frozen ones)
• 1/8 cup nuts (Pistachios are my favorite)

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Line an 8 by 8 inch dish with parchment paper or butter it.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter, honey, and jam.
• In a bowl, mix together the Oatmeal, Flour, and 1/2 tbsp on the Cinnamon.
• Once the ingredients in the saucepan have completely melted, mix with the dry ingredients in the bowl until everything is moistened.
• Press this mixture into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 12 minutes. 
• While it is cooling, heat up the blueberries in a saucepan until they are bubbling and bursting. 
• Spoon 3/4 of the blueberries on to the crust and put back into the oven for 10 minutes.
• While that is baking, put the remaining cinnamon into the remaining blueberries and heat until it is thickened.
• Once the pan is out of the oven, turn the oven off, and spoon this heated mixture on top of the bars.  Spread evenly. 
• Sprinkly with the nuts. 
• Let cool.  Cut. Eat.