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149 – Purple

For the prior beach walk (Weeds), not only did Yvette (@PriorHouse Blog) provide the photos, she also promoted the beach walk with a short interview of me. Thanks, Yvette!

Click the video above for 2 minutes of background waves while reading.

I like to walk on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

As I walked across the walkway toward the beach, I noticed a purple flag signaling the presence of dangerous wildlife. Here, the flag indicates the presence of the Portuguese Man of War. Their iridescent blue is beautiful, but their sting can be painful. 

I welcome back ROY G BIV – the mnemonic device indicating the order on the color spectrum – an order also listing from the longest wavelength to the shortest. I decided long ago to honor Roy by featuring a beach walk for each color – but ROY G BIV does not have a letter P.

Photo by Alexander Grey on Pexels.com

Purple is not one of the spectrum colors because purple doesn’t have a wavelength. Issac Newton didn’t identify purple. But to me, indigo is a shade of blue while violet is close to purple. Besides, I believe thinking about purple will be easier than violet. 

Besides the warning flag, purple is not a common color on this beach – so I must rely on thinking. My first thought takes me back to my hometown. Purple Panthers was our school’s nickname. That became history once we combined with two other small schools nearby, so that purple is now a distant memory. 

Purple is my wife’s favorite color, and she wears it well. I imagine her influence is the reason I have several purple items in my wardrobe. Purple is also one of the colors we can wear when ushering at the playhouse.

Photo by Jonny Lew on Pexels.com

Purple is my birthstone – amethyst – but grapes, eggplants, plums, violets, irises, asters, lavender, lilacs, and orchids come to my mind – even purple cauliflower. I like wine made from dark grapes, but the wine isn’t purple.

Purple is not a color commonly found in nature. I’ve seen a purple finch, which doesn’t look purple to me. I know purple herons exist but have never seen one. However, I know the sea is home to purple urchins. However, purple flowers are popular.

As I write this, it’s Mardi Gras season throughout the southeastern United States. Purple is one of the colors of the annual celebration. Yes, purple – along with gold and green. Purple on clothing and party favors. Participants toss purple beads from parade floats. Purple sugar and icing decorating King Cakes. Interestingly, purple is also the color of the season following Mardi Gras – Christian Lent. In a way, these two purple seasons contradict each other.

Purple is a color we associate with kings, queens, and nobles – with magic and mystery – with logic, reason, and seduction. While a color that attracts attention, some see purple as luxurious, to others it is extravagance. 

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

While Deep Purple provided Smoke on the Water, drugs led Jimi to Purple Haze. Steven Speilberg directed Color Me Purple, but Prince delivered Purple Rain. Sheb Wooley told about the One-eyed, One-horned Flying Purple People Eater, but Joe South and The Big Bopper upped the ante with the Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor.

The lyrics of a patriotic song for Americans include Purple mountain majesty, but the phrase has a variety of meanings. I also remember Purple Mountain Majesty being a Crayon color. The USA honors injured soldiers with a Purple Heart.

Purple is the color created by blending red and blue. No wonder a purple state is one equally balanced between Republicans (red) and Democrats (blue). Voters in these states see many political advertisements. 

Photo by Anni Roenkae on Pexels.com

Purple can be dark or light, bright or muted, and with variations such as violet, mauve, magenta, and jasmine. Did you know artists complement purple with yellow?  

This tribute to purple was difficult for me to write because only about half of these thoughts came to me – and they were disconnected. So, I relied on Google to fill in many blanks because purple is my way of completing my tribute to ROY G BIV. Now, I can think about white, black, gray, and other colors because walking on the beach is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet. 

See what other bloggers have posted about Purple

Next Post: World – 21st Sept @ 1 AM (Eastern US)

94 thoughts on “149 – Purple”

  1. Hello Frank, the colour purple is also quite important in the world of Star Wars as the colours blue and red represent the light side and dark sides (or blue for good and red for bad) of the mystical Force. The first lightsabers (lazer swords) we see in the 1977 movie are red and blue….then fast forward 25 years and Samuel L. Jackson appears in the movie “Attack of the Clones” with a purple lightsaber because his character is said to be able to control light and dark forces which blended the colours to form the Amethyst hue.. In reality though Samuel just wanted a unique colour to the blade of his sword so he could pick himself out of a large crowd during a battle scene!
    So maybe purple is also a colour of vanity?

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Tyeth,
      I appreciate your unique expression of blue and red forming purple as a representation of the battle between good and evil, which leads to purple being the color of vanity. I’ve never noticed it, but I like your interpretation. You have me wondering about the purple is anything in the movies! Thanks for sharing.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. Our sons’ highschool colors were Purple and White.
    My mother loved purple, and amethyst was a favorite gem of hers. My father like you, was also having Amethyst as his birthstone, perhaps that is why Mom loved purple?? MY color is yellow/citrine, which complements the purple . And I love my purple violets, those that grow wild in my yard and those I tenderly care for on my windowsill.

    The bruises I often get are various shades of purple, LOL!

    Interesting thoughts all about Purple, Mr Frank. Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. I have my husband trained now! He walks into the room on Wednesday mornings and says ‘is that Frank?’ Lovely video and the song references made me smile. I’ll be telling that witch doctor all day now! Hopefully not at t’ai chi…

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Good morning, Frank. I often think that the autumn sky is sometimes a violet shade not seen other times of the year. Shiraz is a type of wine that can be a shade of purple. Lots of purple things to think about!🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Merril,
      Although purple is not a color I associate with the sky, you aren’t the only one to mention it. Guess I’m missing something! 🙂 … Great addition about Shiraz. As one who enjoys my share of red wines, I have noticed a touch of purple on the edges. Maybe I should check again … soon! 😉

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. MeMad,
      Welcome first-time commenter to my beach. I hope you enjoyed your encounter with this essay. Now that you mention it, I recall those purple D-Back uniforms! I had forgotten them! FYI: After visiting your site, I see we have some common visitors! 🙂 …. that’s a good thing.

      Liked by 1 person

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  11. The Color Purple (the name of the movie, by the way) is a favourite colour of many. It has so many hues, one can find one that works for them. Just the backdrop of this blog has a few lovely shades and you can see why artists pair yellow with it as they go together so well. Your comment box is placed right between the sun and the stork (or egret) which looks purple because of the light! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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  12. Dear Frank,
    How nice of your to write so prolifically about my favorite color. 😉 Although my birthstone is sapphire I recently treated myself to an amethyst necklace for my birthday. Thank you for including the ocean sounds. So soothing. Well done.
    Shalom,
    Rochelle
    at
    Addicted to Purple.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. Purple is my wife’s favorite color. I’m not sure if I have an absolute favorite color but purple is probably right up there. I was aware purple is the color of Advent and Lent, and royalty is a big fan of the color as well. I had forgotten purple does not have a wave length, making it unique aka not a color but a color mixture. For a color that isn’t a traditional color, it sure is “busy” regardless!

    Liked by 1 person

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  19. I love the colour purple! I even wrote a poem for my purple shoes. It is a colour that makes me smile, makes me happy and makes me feel peaceful. I rarely use much of it when I’m painting but when I do it makes me smile. It is such a positive colour and yet it is quietly so.

    Liked by 1 person

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  20. I LOVE purple, so thanks, Frank, for writing this post! I’m a fan of all shades — from light to dark, from pinkish to burgundy. In fact, I’m wearing a deep purple T-shirt as I write this! It’s like you’re psychic or something, ha!

    Liked by 1 person

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  21. Frank…black, white and grey might not be colours.
    I’ll see what you come up with.
    Hmm, just me, but it seems like……. never mind. I’ll keep you in the grey~

    🎶 Purple is the colour of my true love’s eyes, 🎶 – Actually, when I had hepatitis at 19, someone sang to me 🎶Yellow is the colour of my true love’s eyes, 🎶.
    However, you said that artists often use yellow and purple together.
    You have empurpled me! (it’s a word)
    Clink!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

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  22. The color purple is an interesting subject for me, Frank. I don’t really see it. Most of what you see as purple, I see as a shade of gray. I do see some purples (I think) but they need to be pretty vivid. Still, yours are goo thoughts, I hope you have a great week.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Dan,
      To me, colorblindness is interesting. After all, you with normal cannot imagine what you can see … and we can’t understand what the colorblind see. While red-green is the most common form of olorblindness, it is not the only. Wondering … do you have Tritanomaly? Thanks for sharing.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Both ends of the visible spectrum are a bit confusing for me, Frank. I get a lot of colors mixed up, and I see more gray than exists in the world. But you’re right, as far as I know, I see colors and they are interesting. I’m good with that.

        Liked by 1 person

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  24. I think of Thelonious Monk and the Los Angeles Lakers when I see the color purple. I realize it’s indigo for the former and a gold and purple combo for the latter, but those names still slink into my brain when I’m talking purple.

    Aaron Rodgers saw a lot of purple last weekend. To the tune of four measly point in my FFL, which basically did me in. Of course, by the end of the season the Vikings win will have been a funny blip in the schedule.

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. It’s a great sports color, as evidenced by the many teams that use it. My pet peeve with the Ravens is the black they incorporate into it, but they’re not alone in doing that. The Vikings are one of the best.

        Thank you for the tune!

        Liked by 1 person

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  27. And by the way – where I first saw the word purple for a theme – I immediately thought of Purple Rain! And glad you included that iconic song!
    My spouse and I were at uptown alley and watching his friend Jason play some gee–tar in a band and we were leaving early (well there was one set left but we like to get our sleep – hahaha) and then as we tried to exit – they did purple rain!
    I stayed and got footage (left after that jam)
    But here is a link to the video I made
    Of the mashup band Doing purple rain!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  31. Well, I found this blog notice in my SPAM file – hence the late comment. Darn! Anyway, purple is one of my favorite colors – all shades…..and I love the fragrance of lavender. I find purple to be a rather passionate color….it almost “requires” attention when used in a painting or for that matter when an item of clothing of that color is worn. It draws the eye. OR maybe that’s the artist in me!

    Pam

    Liked by 1 person

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  33. I do love the color purple. We’ve seen a lot of it over the last weeks with all the focus on the monarchy and royalty. In heavy fire season we experience beautiful purple sunsets. They’re rare, but that is what make them special. I like the music references you used. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. I like the way you framed “fire purple,” Frank. It’s been something we’ve commented on through the years. The fires, sometimes at extreme distance, create the most beautiful local skies. Air quality will be posted as extremely dangerous, and yet the sunsets are gorgeous. It’s a wonder!

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  34. Thanks for the link to this post! I’ve always liked the color purple, purely a superficial level. But these days, I especially like it as a reminder of what a blended nation we really are, and how important it is to get along with those who vote differently from us. I live in a so-called “red state” and yet the majority of my friends here vote Democrat. Red and Blue labels do nothing but divide us further. And the way politicians of both parties act when they are elected makes it even worse: gloating, changing everything “their way” and completely ignoring the almost half (or sometimes more if there is a third candidate in the running) who didn’t vote for them. They forget that they represent the whole nation, and that in order to have peace, everyone needs to look at current governmental policies and see some things they agree with. When that doesn’t happen, they become angry, alienated, dis-enfranchised (whatever you want to call it) and the result is the mess we have today. We need to do better, I believe.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Ann,
      Welcome to the sands of my personal beach – well, the cyber variety. I’m right with you as a raging independent and moderate. Both parties what two things from me …. my vote and money – but not my ideas or opinions. Ohio used to be a swing state, but it is quite red these days. Oh well …. hang in there! (but I know that’s not easy).

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  35. Pingback: Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: In a #Purple Haze – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

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