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The Color of Choices

December 9, 2011 By Sandra Heska King

Spinning with Lisa Jo and community again today.

A five-minute spill from a word prompt.

Today it’s about color . . .

GO!

I consider Kitchenaid mixers, and my head spins.

So. Many. Choices.

Not just over features and styles.

Like a tilt-top or bowl-lift.

Like a 4-quart or 5-quart or 6-quart bowl.

But color.

Can’t we just make it simple?

No.

I have to choose between green apple or caviar or buttercup or persimmon or bay leaf or cornflower or empire red or . . .

How about just plain white?

White white? Or meringue white?

Or maybe stainless?

Would that be imperial gray or brushed nickel or metallic chrome or . . . ?

Ack!

But.

God.

He is not stingy or simple when it comes to color.

Consider . . .

The vibrant red of a cardinal on a pure white snow blanket.

A blood orange that drops out of pink and lavender chiffon.

Pine, dune grass, and Lake Michigan greens that border granulated brown sugar.

The deep blue of a dew-dropped berry or an azure overturned china bowl.

A flaming gold leaf or a vivid yellow finch.

Consider the fireworks or softness of a field of wildflowers.

Or . . .

It makes my head spin.

STOP.

If you decide for God, to display a life of God colors, don’t drive yourself crazy about fashionable mixer colors. Has anyone become a better cook by so much as a teaspoon of the hue of their tools? Do you really think it makes a difference? All this time wasted on these choices. Just. Go. Outside. ~Me (personalized from Matthew 6:25-29 in the Message) and yes, this part took longer than five minutes.

 

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Comments

  1. Joanne Norton says

    December 9, 2011 at 11:47 am

    Had to chuckle. I know you know, but in other countries… especially some years ago [things have changed in many of those places, too]… you take what you can get and hope it will work OK and if electricity will be functioning. Color isn’t an issue. HERE… overwhelming choices at, to me, “under”whelming stores.

    Loved the way you put the pieces together. God’s coloring far outweighs what we try to do… and if it wasn’t for Him, we wouldn’t have color, anyway.

    Of the list you were going through, even though I’m a “purple person”, the cornflower option hit my heart. [And, not being a very intense cooker, anything but a very basic hand mixer … I’ve had this ugly green one since 1968 … wouldn’t even be a concern.]

    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2011 at 11:45 pm

      I was perfectly fine with my basic hand mixer. Until I used the the Kitchenaid at the Cottage to whip up some egg whites. I was hooked. 🙂

      The overwhelming amount of choices we have can be a blessing–and can be so tiring.

  2. Megan Willome says

    December 9, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    I love what you did with the verse!

    P.S. I have a white Kitchen Aid that I purchased from a friend when she was going overseas. That was back when white was a legitimate color.

    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2011 at 11:46 pm

      White–a legitimate color. Ha!

  3. Carol J. Garvin says

    December 9, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Gorgeous cardinal photo, Sandra! God’s colours in our world are amazing, aren’t they? However, like you, I’m not so impressed by the trend to colours in appliances. I had to buy a new washing machine and dryer recently and the clerk seemed astonished that I wasn’t interested in looking at the red or royal blue options that were on sale. I bought a white set.

    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2011 at 11:47 pm

      Thanks, Carol!

      Everything goes with white. 🙂

  4. S. Etole says

    December 9, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    Chuckling at Megan’s comment … “when white was a legitimate color.” You’ve brought this together so well.

    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2011 at 11:47 pm

      That tickled me, too. 🙂

  5. Claresa says

    December 9, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    When you think about all the primary colors and the different colors that those colors make, and all of the names given to those colors because of a slight difference in hue or tint…it can be overwhelming. And to think, these are only the colors our human eye can see. I’ve read books about there being even more colors in Heaven. My head spins too when I think about all the possibilities.

    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2011 at 11:49 pm

      Thanks for coming by, Claresa. It’s so hard to imagine even more colors. Can’t begin to imagine.

  6. diana says

    December 10, 2011 at 1:29 am

    Lovin’ this, Sandy. But I have to admit that should the day come when I purchase a Kitchenaid (I too am a hand mixer gal), I will be looking for that lime green one or periwinkle. :>) I LOVE color – the more the merrier – and that’s what I wrote about today. And I’m with Megan – love what you did with the verse.

  7. Louise G says

    December 10, 2011 at 9:37 am

    I love how your mind leaps and cavorts, spilling colour and beauty across the page.

    Love it!

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 12:01 pm

      I lose a lot of pieces of it that way. 😉

  8. Sheila says

    December 10, 2011 at 9:55 am

    Color. What a gift it is! You know, He could have made everything colorless. God is so good at adding value to all Creation.

    My Kitchenaid is red. It’s more like RED, actually. I own a hand mixer, too, but rarely use it. My arthritic hands really appreciate the stand mixer.

    My daughter’s is white, but she has applied a decal of flames to the powerhead, a la Alton Brown.

    So Sandy, have you selected your mixer yet?

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm

      And by now you know . . .

  9. Monica Sharman says

    December 10, 2011 at 9:59 pm

    Blood oranges are wonderful!!

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm

      I have never had the nerve, though, to try one. There’s just something about that name . . .

  10. Sandra Sims says

    December 12, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    I love how you can take something so simple as a Kitchenaid mixer and make beautiful poetry… and find godly wisdom!

    I have a Kichenaid (white) that’s still in it’s box from a wedding gift nearly 10 years ago. My new years resolution is to open it and make something delicious!

  11. David Rupert says

    December 14, 2011 at 10:48 am

    This was just such a fun post. Hi energy. Kind of like a certain writer I know!

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 11:59 am

      😀 😀

  12. David Rupert says

    January 9, 2012 at 8:39 pm

    Reading this again, I just love it and will feature it on the monthly High Calling “Around the Network”

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 11:59 am

      Honored, David. Thank you!

  13. Kathleen says

    January 12, 2012 at 10:46 pm

    “…..a salute then, to the Maker of color…..” iLove still, at 51, to buy a new BIG box of Crayolas. The names still make me dizzy. And the smell is the smell of possibility. ” Just go outside” is the thing to scream from the rooftops and don’t stop. 🙂

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 11:58 am

      Wouldn’t you like to be the one who gets to name the colors in those boxes?

  14. Jodi says

    January 13, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    We try to emulate God, but we lose every time. He’s created color we can’t see and some that we do see will never grace a mixer…
    Thanks for blitzing on color, I enjoyed reading…

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 11:57 am

      I love how you worded that! I’m thinking we’ll be dazzled by heaven’s colors.

  15. John King says

    January 18, 2012 at 9:12 am

    As Sheila notes, God could have made everything colorless. He could have created us without the capacity to discern colors at all! For example, cattle have no color receptors in their eyes (waving a RED flag is not the issue, WAVING anything is). The fact that He created such a vast palette and gave us the capacity to discern so many hues means we were designed to enjoy and praise Him (cf., Romans 1:18ff). Thanks for the post!

    • Sandra says

      January 19, 2012 at 11:54 am

      I can’t imagine what it would be like to see everything in black and white. So glad He was so big on color. 🙂

      Thanks for sharing that cattle tidbit. Interesting that we try to tempt them to run with red whereas red to us means to stop. Not that some of us pay much attention to that.

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