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28 – Colors

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Click the video above for several minutes of background waves while reading.

I like walking on the beach. It’s good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

My day started on a colorful note. I awakened early – stars were still visible in the dark sky, but there was enough light to see the whites of the waves. The eastern horizon contains a narrow streak of light. Oranges soon appeared along with light blues, grays, and even reds to accent the black. The light show continued with gradual changes, and then the sun eventually sneaked over the horizon to start a new day.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Wonderful colors started my day. As I now walk, I notice the water is pristine and the natural emerald green of the area. I think of crystal clear blue seen in parts of the Caribbean Sea, or that special Ligurian blue of Italy’s Ligurian Sea – but this is the Emerald Coast.

The sunny sky is blue with a sprinkling of white clouds across the sky. Although the sand is whitish, most of the buildings are modern and muted in color – shades of white and beige with an occasional colored roof. There’s also a beautiful blue scattered on the beach by the water. The deep-hued blue with a pink crown of the Portuguese Man-of-War stands out saying, “Don’t step on me or else!” But the natural colors are what I ponder the most.

The wide-ranging colors of shells always capture my attention. With different shades of brown and gray – and with brown combining with red to provide orange – but red is not absent. Some grays have so little white that they are black, yet a few have so little black they are white. Colors often combine in different arrangements in bands, streaks, or blotches.

I return to the emerald water that transports me to the spring and summer seasons of home. All the greens. So many shades of green in nature resembling the shades of green found in a paint display – and probably more. The plant’s green comes from chlorophyll that captures the light necessary to produce their food.

Plants have different amounts of the two types of chlorophyll, which can also be found in different concentrations. Different habitats, leaves of different ages, and different amounts of minerals contribute to different shades of green in nature. It seems the biology teacher is still in me.

Photo by sergio souza on Pexels.com

People bring bright colors to the beach – a rainbow of visual treats. T-shirts, sportswear, swimwear, umbrellas, chairs, and more provided spots of brightness. The beach flags today are also yellow (Medium hazard, cautious swimming) and purple (Marine pests – the stinging ones).

Humanity often uses colors to describe moods, feelings, and aspects of personalities – the red of love, passion, excitement, and anger – the blue of loyalty, strength, securing, peace, sadness, and cold – the green of luck, harmony, relaxation, and envy – the yellow of creativity, happiness, warmth, fun, and cowardness – the purple of ambition, royalty, and spirituality – and other colors too.

In life, coloring inside or outside the lines depends on the situation. Passing with flying colors requires a standard. Examining a horse of a different color is outside the box, but not everyone dreams in color.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Pexels.com

We have the blues when red tape hinders a golden opportunity, so we tell a white lie involving the gray area. But sometimes we are both beet red and tickled pink at a joke the family’s black sheep tells out of the blue.

I’ve noted an array of colors on my day – my color palate for attempting to paint a picture with words – but who knows how many colors I’ve missed. Noticing colors is a good thing, especially when at the beach because I like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have posted about colors

Next Post: Sea – Saturday 16 January @ 1 AM (Eastern US)

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104 thoughts on “28 – Colors”

  1. I have seen thousand of different colour of the water. The most special, you may guess, are those of the seas of oceans around islands where the coral barrier give an unique touch depending on several component: the sands, the corals, the density of water… and, unfortunately, sometimes the pollution play a great role too.
    I remember the black waters of the dead sea, the green and blue of the river Verzasca which is an half hour from where i leave.
    For sure, the best way to describe “water” in general is giving a colour; as well you can describe it with the sense of smell. The worst suvenir is from the pools in the tropical Asia or Africa, filled water mixed with chlorine, to keep it safe to swimm in it. I used only couple time, one in Singapore and another in Lagos… enogh to get a severe skin allergy.
    Another way for giving the “sensation of vitalty” is to describe water with a verb of motion: the thounderous droping of cascates, the fast mouving of fangose rivers after a tropical rain, and so on.
    Although, we never must forget, WE humans are water as well, if I correctly recall, 70%. Water should not be privatized, water is a common good for each sentient being and, it must be protected since without water, there isn’t life chance.
    Thank you for sharing, hugs dear Frank. :-)c

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    1. Claudine,
      No doubt that water has different colors at any given location, but also a wider range across the globe. From varying amounts of different algae, sentiments, dissolved minerals, depth, and more, water will be different. Thanks for sharing the observations of your travels.

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  2. Although sunrise and sunset are the most rewarding times to find whole symphonies of colour reflected on the water, you’re right. You can have such fun looking for subtle gradations in shells, the sand, the rocks. What better way to while away a few minutes – or hours.

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  4. Colors “dot” our language……having the blues, seeing red, etc……but the sea itself (not the crowded beach) gives us the muted tones of peace and tranquility. As colorful as it can be at the beach, I am calmed by the “quiet” tones of the sea and a pristine beach. Great post again……….

    Pam

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    1. Pam,
      “Muted” is the perfect word, and the word I been trying to find this morning. A sandy beach is contrasting with the water is inviting and calming, but the beach itself is muted … but when examining all the colors that one can see on the beach, it’s a very colorful place.

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  6. A fine musing on color, Frank, and walking on a beach with all the colors of sky, sea, and beach is definitely a sensory pleasure. There’s a theory (and it’s only that) that ancient people did not “see” blue, as they had no word for it. I often feel like I can feel and taste colors, and I wonder what it’s like to see more, as some animals do. I also know people who are colorblind–one man severely so.

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  7. There is nothing more spiritual than waking up in the wee hours and watching the world come to life and the colours of life slowly deepen. Too many do not see the red hues that surround them simply because they are in a hurry. It is a sad statement on our society but one that is easily rectified. If people would just look…

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    1. HeyJude,
      Welcome first-time beach walker on my private strip of sand. I agree. Given the muted nature of sand dominating one’s vision, many will miss the colors because they don’t take the time to notice. But once one’s notices – wow – it’s a colorful world! Do you live close to a beach?

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  9. I remember being blown away by the varying colours of the see in a cove when I was in Cancun. There are so many different shades, depending on where you are. Isn’t that a beautiful thing?

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    1. Dale,
      Absolutely – and cheers to you for noticing the colors of the Cancun cove. Now there’s an accident string of Cs. What is interesting to me is that some places are obviously colorful – that is, can’t miss them. But other places, not so much – but they are also colorful.

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      1. It’s the places that you think will be colourful and are not that surprises the most… Like when I went to Costa Rica, on the Pacific coast, not the Caribbean – the sea was frankly, rather drab… plus the seashore is volcanic so the sand is not pretty either!

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  11. This is a fun look at colors, Frank. Being somewhat colorblind, I’m often surprised when people comment on my photos about the colors I don’t see. I’ve also learned that maybe I shouldn’t comment on colors in other’s photos – I once left a comment about a “green door” only to be asked which door I meant, since there were no green ones. I still use the expressions you mentioned – accuracy isn’t required when connotation takes over.

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    1. Dan.
      Because your closing is the last I read, my first thought is at least you can laugh at yourself! For the colorblind, it’s a world that the rest of us can’t imagine. I was checking in at a golf course in 2019, I was beside the Starter – and the person behind the desk made a comment about my and the Starter’s shirt were the same – thus when did I start working there … and the two colors weren’t even close … but to him they were. He, like you, was a good sport about it. PS: As I plan ahead, I’m hoping for a Doors beach walk in late Feb/March that I would post on a Thursday! 🙂

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    1. Crispina,
      When on a stony beach, the colors of the stones are wonderful. For me, the most memorable was a beach in Ronchi (west coast of Italy). The stones were stunning. With Carrera not far up in the mountains, stone-size marble was on the beach … plus other stones with embedded marble. Fabulous!!!! Thanks for reminding me.

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  13. I would marvel at the beauty of Portuguese Man-of-War and feel sorry for the fact that they are dependent on the ocean currents for mobility. Such dependence leads to an unfortunate ending at times. Their plight is a vote for self-determination but one has to admire their unique colors. An excellent post, Frank.

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    1. John,
      Thanks for the numerous points about the Portuguese Man-of-War. I recall seeing them for the first time wondering what they were because their color is stunning. At that time, I was thinking they were much bigger, so I figured this blue things were something different. Thanks for sharing!

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  17. Delightful post, Frank! < 3 I am always interested in the meanings assosciated with colors. The comments from the perspective of a retired biology teacher made me smile. Once a teacher, always a teacher. I taught elementary and middle school. 🙂 Bobby Darin brightened up my day. Thank you so much for this wonderful post! All the best! 🙂 🙂 🙂

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    1. Cheryl,
      You made me laugh because your comment reminded me of a visitor on my old blog who would refer to me as Teach. Now I’m wondering why I didn’t mention Roy G Biv in this post! Cheers to your career and your joy for Bobby Darin. I put a lot of effort into the closing song/video, so you mentioning your appreciation for it made me smile.

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  18. I love colors and find myself feeling sorry for those who can’t differentiate them. Have you noticed how many shades of each color there are? You probably haven’t, unless you’ve tried to match a particular blue or red in your closet. And I’m told that most people have pretty short color recall, despite being able to distinguish among colors. In other words, we can see the difference between azure and cobalt, but we tend to remember them both as merely blue. Odd, huh?

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    1. Debbie,
      I love looking at the different shades of green in the spring and summer. Simply so many – so yes – I notice. In terms of those with colorblindness, an interesting thing is that they simply don’t know. what the color is to the rest of us. What appears to them to be two close colors may actually be not even close. For the rest of us, we have no clue what they see. Interesting stuff about color recall. Maybe so many shades is our issue. Who knows … but thanks for sharing!!!!

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  19. I definitely observed the biology teacher in action 🙂 🙂 Colour is a gift and a beautiful thing, isn’t it? I echo Debbie’s thoughts about colour blindness, but then each of us thinks we see colour as it is, and therefore don’t feel any lack. I often argue with my husband that elephants are grey, while he insists they’re brown. It’s a standing joke with us.

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    1. Jo,
      Color certainly is a gift. Brown elephants? Really … oh boy. This reference reminds me of this teaching statement – If you are teaching the color gray, don’t bring in an elephant because the student will remember the animal, not the color. 🙂

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  21. You always make me think–to notice even more! So thank you for that, Frank. So many colors to inspire and teach us. I went over to Facebook and asked to be a friend of BeachWalk Reflections–couldn’t see where to “like” it otherwise, but maybe I wasn’t paying attention. 🙂

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    1. Kathy,
      Two of my aims with all the beach walks is to be relaxing and thought provoking. So if it gets you thinking, ding ding ding … job done!
      In terms of Facebook, I have no clue Like would be because I see a different view. Hmmmm … will work on that – but I saw your request – Thanks. Meanwhile, I’ll seek some help to find out.

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  22. It is right in the middle of my day and I am done contemplating some not so light stuff. I loved immersing myself in this post full of color that began with as if I am taking the walk on the beach, breaking into the day, the skies painting themselves, and a myriad of details that you so beautifully bring. I love how colors are associated with our emotions and have a poem that wonders if I could evolve enough to pick and choose an emotion just enough to create the desired portrait of my life, just like how an artist chooses his colors to paint his picture.

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  23. I think you did a fabulous job of capturing so many colors, Frank. Job well done! As for being red with sunburn, I suppose you could get into all the shades from light pink to whatever the mottled color is when your skin begins to peel. But that’s not a pleasant beach experience, so perhaps better avoid! 🙂

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  25. Colors are mood enhancers, and walking along the beach with the soft pastel colors of dawn brings on my favorite mood: soft, serene, peaceful. I try to escape the beach when all the colors of bathing suits and umbrellas and towels arrive to the pristine sand. That changes the mood for sure! I’m also thinking of my dad, and son, and grandson, who are all color blind! They see some color, but not many of the variations in greens and purples and pinks and orange. Sad, but they don’t know what they’re missing.

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    1. Pam,
      Good morning. Your beautiful writing about the colors and the beach stuck me this morning – so thanks for touching me this morning. Colorblindness is sad. They don’t know what we see and we don’t know what we see … and they you are, the link to all of them and the only one with normal color vision. Thanks for sharing.

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  26. Nature’s palette really is an endless thing, isn’t it? You could sit on the shoreline all day and find a million different hues if you wanted to. You would never be able to name them all, and that there to me, is the most beautiful aspect of it all.

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  28. All in all, the main colour I’m seeing is a sort of peach.
    Well, it is after all, a peachy post.
    I quite like the biology teacher in you. Suddenly this winter, I understand your love of beach walks beyond refreshment of spirit and feet. It’s part of you.
    Nice Bobby song!
    Thank you, Frank!

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    1. Resa,
      A peachy post – interestingly, I think that may be the first time I’ve ever been told that one! Glad you enjoyed the colors and a touch of Bobby Darin. (Love it when readers tell me they like the video). … and yes … walking on the beach is definitely part of me. 🙂

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  31. How lovely of you to notice all these gifts of Nature that so many of us take for granted, Frank! Here in the Southwest, we are blessed with colorful skies. When blue, it’s the bluest blue you’ve ever seen. Sunrise & sunset often present a tender pink & sometimes a baby blue as well. And our monsoon clouds result in every color you can imagine. We are all so blessed with this ongoing symphony of color, if we’d just pay attention! I so enjoyed your words and pics in this post. Thanks for sharing. 🌞

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    1. Lisa,
      The gifts of nature some in so many colors. Seemingly, an endless spectrum. I love the colors of the southwest. The blue sky and red rocks are meant for each other. I’ve never seen a blooming desert, but have heard of its beauty. Now you see why I made the connection to your opening image! 🙂

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    1. Purple,
      Welcome first-time walker to my private beach that I like to share with others. You live so close to the beach, yet it has been some time since you have felt the sand between the toes and water washing over your feet. I’m glad I was able to take you back to the beach with this walk regarding colors. Tomorrow we got to the sea. I invite you to come along.

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