Yellow is beautiful
I grew up thinking that yellow was a rather ordinary color and not one to be admired very much. My father used to tease me by calling our beautiful Red Persian cat an ordinary "yellar" Cedar County tomcat. Then there was the movie about a dog called "Old Yellar."
Our house in Washington, D.C., was painted a cream color trimmed in green. When I described it to a friend who was coming over as the yellow and green house, I was told sharply that it wasn't yellow, it was cream colored. That made it seem that yellow was not a color to be admired.
However I have always loved the color. There can be nothing more cheery looking than that color. Recently my son and daughter-in-law repainted our master bathroom as a gift to me. I chose the color. Of course it was yellow.
When the autumn sunlight comes through the window and hits the colorful walls it's like seeing a friend smile. There is some paint left over and I am wondering what else I can turn into a golden moment when I pass it.
Others who like the color sometimes disguise the commonness of it by using the word "golden." Goldenrod that is blooming now and giving allergy sufferers problems is an example. We talk about the golden days of autumn referring to the brightness of the clear skies and changing colors in the foliage. Many of those changes become yellow for part of the process at least. The catalpa leaves that started their fall journey early this year are now partially yellow with some still green.
The field of sunflowers north of town, near Butler, can't help but raise the spirits of any who pass. There is no mistake that these flowers are yellow and brown.
The so-called weeds that I call Spanish Blossoms have stayed with us for several weeks this summer and fall. I notice as I have traveled east several times in recent weeks that these flowers prefer our part of the country. The abundant yellow blooms along the roadside disappeared as I drove farther east. It is their loss. I love to see them each year.
The color yellow has been associated with being a coward. But the boldness of these blossoms, the sunflowers in a field or gracing the ditches and roads in Kansas is anything but cowardly. They challenge the world to see their beauty. They are no shrinking violets or clinging vines but stand erect, facing the sun while proclaiming to the world that yellow is beautiful.
The poet says that, "Nature's first green is gold" referring to the early colors of spring that are so welcome. They actually are yellow before the green appears.
I think perhaps this last burst of colors that we will be enjoying for several weeks are designed to keep our spirits bright through the less colorful days of winter. We can get our fix of brilliance to bide us over the drab days.
Then next spring we will eagerly watch for those telltale signs of spring that appear first as yellowish tinges in the willows and other early leafing trees.
For now we will continue to gather up all the gold we can see in our bountiful yellow flowers.
In the meantime I think maybe I'll paint the back door yellow.
That should help me through the winter.