“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 954 (Thursday) – sky blue pink

When I was a kid peppering Mom with questions one of them was, “What is your favorite color?” She would always respond “Sky blue pink,” pause a beat, then add, “with purple polka dots.” I would ask the question periodically to see if the answer would be the same. It always was. There was no such crayon in any Crayola box, and I thought it was her made-up comedy schtick, because how could there be such a fantastical sounding thing as “sky blue pink?” I would tell my friends Mom’s favorite color, which was so exotic compared to their Mom's preferences.

The rapidly fading sky blue pink.

While sitting in traffic on the University Bridge at 5:45 this evening, trying to get downtown for a meeting, there was time to notice the sky. To the right, towards the direction of Tyngsboro, it was a painterly combination of pale blue fading into a golden glow over the Merrimack River. To the left, it was pale blue melting into pink. There were no purple polka dots. 

I was a fully formed adult before realizing that “sky blue pink” existed. I was in my early days of photography when I was paying attention to everything. It’s right there in the sky, ever so briefly.

By the time I arrived at my destination and parked, the color was fading. The magical evening light comes quickly and disappears just as fast. The photos I was finally able to take are pale, barely there representations of reality. Stupid traffic.

Book club snacks, aka supper.

The monthly book club meeting was fun. It turns out all of us had “a day” in the midst of “a week.” I know I was grateful for the chance to shake off the workday and enjoy a dark-ish Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale and the shared appetizers of crispy onion rings, fries, sweet potato fries, fried cheese sticks, and fried pickles.  

Almost as quickly as the sky blue pink faded from the sky, our meeting was done and we scattered to the winds. And now, we are on hiatus until January due to holiday schedules. It’s a bit of a bummer, but also a great opportunity to address the growing stack of books on the bedside shelf, so there’s that.