Today, out in the cool November sun, I realized I was wearing an aquamarine sweater and a magenta scarf over my jacket. Now that's not that unusual, I've given up (mostly) wearing black and often wear bright colors. But I think the sun brought it home to me - those were my favorite crayon colors when I was a kid.
Almost everything I colored as a kid included those two colors. It didn't matter if it was a house or a tree or a horse, somewhere in every single picture there was aquamarine and there was magenta.
I remember those packages of Crayola crayons (okay, now I'm going to date myself) - 16 colors in a box. Now, having done a little research, I think by the time I was using Crayola crayons, there were 48 colors - but I remember that small box of 16 colors as if it were yesterday. And you know what, not that long ago I bought a small box of crayons - and I use them, too. Same colors, slightly different names, but those original colors, the ones I loved so much, are still there.
Almost everything I colored as a kid included those two colors. It didn't matter if it was a house or a tree or a horse, somewhere in every single picture there was aquamarine and there was magenta.
I remember those packages of Crayola crayons (okay, now I'm going to date myself) - 16 colors in a box. Now, having done a little research, I think by the time I was using Crayola crayons, there were 48 colors - but I remember that small box of 16 colors as if it were yesterday. And you know what, not that long ago I bought a small box of crayons - and I use them, too. Same colors, slightly different names, but those original colors, the ones I loved so much, are still there.
It's funny how it doesn't take much to bring back those memories. I can remember lying on a scratchy grey wool blanket in the hot sun of the backyard, crayons in my hand, drawing, well, I was never really an artist, so drawing not much of anything. The green grass, the horse I'd imagined was in the stable I didn't have in the corner, the dress I wanted to wear. None of them, of course, looked anything at all like the items they represented, but they were full of beautiful Crayola colors.
Ten or so years ago, my mom's baby sister Susannah and I took an art course. It was called drawing on the right side of the brain. And one of the things we got to do was to draw that house (you know, that house we all drew when we were kids), the one with the chimney smoking and the apple tree with apples the size of basketballs, and the bright sun in the bright blue sky. Oh, we did other things, but that's the thing I remember the most, that's the thing I loved the most.
Crayola crayons. They made me happy then and they make me happy now.
Kate
1 comment:
I remember that course! And I remember drawing the house. Next time you're over, I'll show you my collection of Crayola crayons.
Susannah
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