But first, a note of thanks ...
My goodness! The nicest people read my blog, as evidenced by the beautiful comments made after the post on April 22nd. Thank you for all your kind words. They helped me to "get out of the weeds," so to speak on some things that have been weighing on my mind. So thank you all!
Now to continue with today's blog post which is a playful truth.
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"When I Am Old I Shall Wear Yellow"
Up until just a few years ago, I never
(and I mean, NEVER) wore yellow.
This personal conviction began when my (now middle-aged) children were in Kindergarten and younger. We were deciding on the paint for our children’s rooms. Not surprisingly, the boys’ walls went from builder’s basic eggshell white to blue. Our daughter got yellow, in part because pink was more than my husband wanted to see every day, and because sometime during that era our daughter decided yellow (“Lello” as she pronounced it) was her favorite color.
Around that time I read an article in the newspaper about color. It said all color has either a blue base or a yellow base. That intrigued me but then more so when I read a book, Color Me Beautiful, that said we should wear colors that compliment our skin’s basic hue.
I analyzed myself, following that with conversations with a girlfriend at church who was really into this color idea. It was determined that I was a “winter”, which meant my best colors were the jewel, or gem tones such as blues, deep reds, purple, forest green (as opposed to olive green), navy, and black. (That meant I should not wear brown, orange, beige, and yellow)
I will add that my color consultant friend was very attractive, never wearing colors that did not flatter her skin tone. I gradually filtered out the yellow-based shades from my closet. That philosophy has worked well for me over the years and I have no regrets about it.
But then my life took some unexpected turns. Widowhood ambushed my life. Among many changes was the loss of 20 pounds due to my grief. I eventually had to buy some new clothes because what I had just hung on me like a limp cloth. I learned that even when wearing the "right" colors, grief negatively affects one's personal appearance.
By the goodness of God, a new love caught my attention! A few months after our first date, Gary stated he wanted to give me a bicycle for my birthday. This initiated some interesting thoughts:
* Should I permit that kind of expense at this point in our relationship?
* It was decades since I last rode a bicycle. Could I even do it?
* My senior citizen body would have to make peace with a bicycle seat.
* And of course, what clothes would be bicycle-appropriate?
When riding a bicycle, it is really important to wear clothing that road traffic can see. I read a study one time that said fire engines are more easily seen when they are painted chartreuse (yellow-green) as opposed to “fire engine red.”
That must be true because as we all know, road construction crews and outdoor landscapers often wear the yellow vests and shirts with the hope car traffic won’t hit them. Thus began my personal battle opposing one of my longest-held promises to myself: I needed some yellow clothes!
❤️ WHAT I DID FOR LOVE ❤️
This item of highway couture was my first foray into the goal of being more visible. However, the velcro tabs were a real bother and I quickly realized I wanted something else.
Yellow tops are not hard to find. I even shopped at a highway gas station where shirts for road construction crews were on sale! As the seasons came and went, I gradually collected long sleeves, short sleeves, sleeveless — supplying my athletic wardrobe for all outdoor temperatures.
On the bottom half, I choose to wear black pants, capris, and shorts, always with a pocket big enough to hold my cell phone, in case of emergency. (That’s as important as wearing yellow, in my opinion).
At first I wore yellow only when riding our bikes but then this cute T shirt showed up when we were vacationing on Jekyll Island…. I was learning to not be so strict about this color thing. A book title came to mind that gave me further permission:
While I have no plans to go as wild as that story, I have given myself permission to broaden my wardrobe horizons a little.
I usually (but not always) wear yellow when taking a walk through my neighborhood. On impulse I found this wonderful yellow hat at a store closing sale. Clearly, by adding yellow to my closet, I have done something that years ago I never thought would happen.
We were drinking our usual morning coffee the other day when I shared with Gary some thoughts I’d had about the future. He listened and then with the experience that accompanies years of wisdom he replied,
“Don’t put a seal on that."
Another way of summing up his counsel is
found in the New Testament:
Now listen, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow we will
go to this or that city,
spend a year there,
carry on business and make money."
Why, you do not even know
what will happen tomorrow...
Instead you ought to say,
"If it is the Lord's will,
we will live and do this or that.
James 4:13, 14, 15
*P.S. Regarding that 20 pounds I lost, I found them again.🤭
Until next time, grace and peace.
Barbara
Also check out The Christian Lounge, where occasionally my devotional writings are featured.
