All Things Blue
“I live for those who love me, for those who know me true, for the heaven so blue above me, and the good that I can do.” George Linnaeus Banks
It’s a safe bet everyone has a favorite color.
Mine is blue. And I cannot think of a better color to love!
Does anyone realize colors have character, personality, temperature, and mood among their many other characteristics? My favorite color blue sits within the cool spectrum together with the greens. As is obvious, the largest expense of sky and sea is blue. Blue, unsurprisingly reputed to exude calmness, wields great power to reduce and manage stress by calming and soothing the mind thus reducing anxiety. It is little wonder then the color blue has associations with notions of peace, tranquility, sensitivity, liberty, imagination, inspiration, and spirituality, while also invoking a sense of trust, stability, confidence, loyalty, and dependability. Precisely because of the huge covert psychological impact it exerts on people, color specialists, and psychologists are sometimes employed to advise institutions on how to color-play their offices and operations. All colors, through the mood they create, definitely affect productively as well as the well-being of employees. Office designs and colors may hence vary widely among various industries, from soothing atmospheres of hospital settings to vibrant creative interiors of advertising businesses to no-nonsense legal offices and banking spaces.
Where people are concerned i.e. on a human level, people with ‘blue personalities’ are considered caring, authentic, considerate, and generally unconcerned about social positions. They are natural, emphatic peacekeepers who generally help resolve conflicts among family and friends. Possessed of logical thinking and ethics, they are good managerial material. On a corporate level, institutions wishing to project an image of strength, trust, and reliability are inclined towards choosing a blue color as their corporate color. The same choices apply to nursing uniforms and healthcare professions. Many banks also intentionally opt for a blue color by choice. A deep blue symbolizes strength and trust. Say no more! Even the United Nations utilizes the color code PMS 2925 from the Pantone Matching System for (UN blue) its flag which is certainly recognized as representing world peace.
‘Blue’, which exists within the rainbow spectrum of colors, is one of four known primary colors. It also carries a whole range of other alternate meanings unrelated to color as a pigment. When one is emotionally down, one is said to have the blues. For the lovesick, the lyrics of ‘Blue Bayou’ may ring a chord:
“Oh that boy of mine
By my side
The silver moon
And the evening tide
Oh some sweet day
Gonna take away
This hurting inside
Well I’ll never be blue
My dreams come true
On Blue Bayou.” Lyrics by Joe Melson/Roy Orbison
In the Southern states of the United States of America, people sang the blues when enduring hard times during the slave era. Expressing their misery and challenges helped alleviate their sufferings and tribulations and brought some relief to their souls (perhaps qualifying it to be classified as soul music). Turning blue on the other hand is a medical emergency arising from the lack of oxygen to the point one literally exhibits a physical bluish appearance. Infant Methemoglobinemia, also known as Blue Baby Syndrome is a medical condition when a baby lacks sufficient oxygen causing its skin to turn blue. It is suspected drinking nitrate-contaminated water causes this. Nitrites bind with hemoglobin to form methmoglobin that is unable to carry oxygen and results in oxygen deprivation. A difficult labor may also cause a loss of oxygen to a baby causing it to turn blue.
As a color, ‘blue’ readily describes nature, from human body parts to animals to natural physical earthly forms. Pale eyes lacking pigment are romantically described as blue eyes. The ‘Blue’ mountains are described as they appear blue from a distance. The blue whale is similarly described for the same reason. The interplay of light and water gives the illusion of a blue color to the whale. The Blue Danube is perhaps so named as well. Likewise, the Morpho butterfly that has no blue pigment on its wings appears an iridescent blue. Light-reflecting from the diamond-shaped scales of its wings reflects the blue of the color spectrum. It is truly a wonder of nature that a natural design can yield such an amazing result. Likewise, bluebirds such as blue Jays appear blue in color due to a phenomenon known as ‘Rayleigh scattering’ that also causes the sky to appear blue. Other blue-colored creatures include the blue bottle, blue poison dart frog, peacock, Spix’s Macaw, blue sea star, blue glaucus, chameleon, blue damselfish, and some lizards. It matters little whether a blue pigment exists or does not. Color itself is a play on light, which explains why the ‘same’ color appears a different color under different lighting. Photographers are known to popularly exploit these phenomena to get various desired results.
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Blue is not naturally a very common color and is actually quite rare. Very few organisms can actually produce a genuine blue pigment. What may be ‘mistaken’ for a blue color is frequently a purple compound (anthocyanin). Blueberries, blackberries, Elderberries, Concord grapes, black currants, Damson plums, and blue tomatoes (aka Indigo Rose tomatoes) are all rich in anthocyanin which gives these fruits their deep blue-purple hue.
On the other hand, blue dyes (indigo) are made from plants and blue pigments from metamorphic rock such as lapis lazuli. Plants from which blue dyes can be made include Elderberries, Indigo, Woad, Devil’s Bit, and Sloe fruit. Numerous tribal people around the world still employ the traditional way of dying their fabrics using dyes from plants. It is a laborious process starting from locating and harvesting the relevant plants before processing them to derive their dyes. Undoubtedly keeping such ancient traditions alive amidst modernization has enduring appeal and is incredibly fascinating. It is being recognized as a potential tourist draw. Also from the old days, the ancient Egyptians smeared crushed or powdered lapis lazuli around their eyes to improve vision. Perhaps this is where blue eye shadow originated? The semiprecious stone was also imbued with spiritual meaning, was believed to ward off evil and negative energy, and was worn for more than just its dazzling beauty.
Blue Sapphire and blue diamonds deserve mention while we are on the subject of precious or semiprecious stones. Except for red diamonds, the rarest of all diamonds, blue diamonds are the next in line for exceedingly rare precious stones and are only found in Australia, South Africa, and India. Their color comes from traces of boron and the intensity of color determines their value with the deepest color carrying the highest value. Diamonds have been touted as a girl’s best friend. It was really an ultra-smart advertising ploy to promote the sales of diamonds. This sales pitch worked and sales increased exponentially after the slogan caught on. Sales of diamonds apparently increased by 55% over two years from the inception of the marketing campaign for diamonds as an object or symbol of love. Ask De Beers. Equating love with diamonds meant engagement and marriage proposals came coupled with diamond rings. Forgive the pun but the idea was and remains simply brilliant! Some other blue gemstones include blue topaz, turquoise, blue zircon, aquamarine, grandidierite, blue tourmaline, and neon apatite.
On the floral front, blue ‘lilies’ Agapanthus aka Lily of the Nile, Bluebell, Hydrangea, Delphinium, Forget-me-not, Pansy, Cornflower, Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea), Nemophilia, Blue Poppy, Blue Anemone, and Blue Rose are some of the less common garden flowers. Hydrangea flowers are blue or pink depending on the alkalinity or acidity of the soil they grow in. They are blue in acidic soil and vice versa. It reminds me pretty much of the litmus test used in science laboratories! Adding lemon juice or coffee grounds to your Hydrangea will result in blue flowers. We don’t accord much meaning to these blue flowers but they are associated with regret and apology. Unknowledgeable or ignorant people like many of us, will have no clue as to these meanings. The Blue poppy that calls the Himalayas home is understandably a rather rare flower. It is a flower that actually has a blue pigment. As a follow-through on the type of soil that produces blue flowers, the same can be said for this poppy. Its native Tibet’s soils where it grows are acidic. Like the Blue poppy, the Blue Rose (if there is such a natural thing as a blue rose at all) tops the rarest index for a color for roses. While we might not have given much thought to the rarity of blue flowers prior hereto, we may probably now think a little deeper about how special they really are.
Moving from the terrestrial to the celestial exists an interesting phenomenon called the blue moon that occurs roughly every two to three years. This is when there is more than one full moon in a calendar month. A supermoon occurs when the moon’s full phase is closest to the Earth making it appear larger. The rarest moon, known as a super blue moon happens when a second full moon of a calendar month occurs when it is closest to the Earth (i.e. the perigee of its orbit). Super blue moons may occur as far apart as two decades. The saying when the moon turns blue is comparable to a cat growing horns, meaning, when a rare event occurs. Perhaps the saying should refer to super blue moons rather than just blue moons. Although described as blue, the blue moon certainly isn’t blue; it is merely a figurative description.
Before closing, what is blue in the food and lifestyle realms needs to be mentioned. The Blue Zone (on its challenges, solutions, or culinary aspects) written about and highlighted by Dan Buettner, an American National Geographic Fellow and New York Times-bestselling author, is a lifestyle promoting longevity through good practices. These embrace a largely plant-based diet, not overeating, exercising, socializing as in engaging with the community, having a purpose in life, ensuring adequate sleep, reducing stress, etc. which people in specific Blue Zones (Okinawa, Sardinia, Loma Linda, Ikaria, Nicoya in Costa Rica) observe. Blue Zones’ inhabitants are reputed to not only live long but also healthily. Compared to the current health crisis affecting the world's populations, much interest is being taken in the blue zone diet and lifestyle towards curtailing disease and encouraging healthy life extension.
In the culinary scene, blue foods are not predominantly featured. Blue is not generally an appetizing color for food. Food in the warm colors appears more appetizing (in red, yellow, or brown) whereas the cool colors namely blue (with the exception of green) give an icy cold vibe that dampens appetite. Food that is blue in color includes fruit such as blueberry, vegetables such as blue corn, blue potatoes or the indigo milk cap mushroom, seafood such as the blue lobster and the blue crab, or coloring for frosting on cakes and confectionary (e.g. Twinkles). Dasheen or cocoyam is considered blue food as some types turn different shades of blue when cooked. Blue cheese with its blue veins of mold is still yellow cheese. The ‘blue’ mold (penicillin) introduced into the cheese and encouraged to grow and inhabit it is what shades it blue. Inedible yet food-related is a famous blue color aligned with competition. Winners of the best food in food competitions earn themselves Blue Ribbons. These are awards for the best culinary performances.
There are still many more blue items not dealt with here. Why not see how many of them you can think up?
Thumbs up from your true blue Aussie brother.