Day 63 - The Red Thing

red on red on red

I've noticed an unexpected trend in my life...the colour red. 

There was a time when my colour was black, although during periods when I was either less depressed, or less cool (dude...), this would fade to blues and greys.   I would reject any clothing that had primary colours, for instance.   

Don't get me wrong, this wasn't some premeditated decision.   It just seemed to be a reflection of the inner me of the time.

Tonight, we were at an engagement party.   As we sat people watching and idly chatting, early in the evening, I mentioned that I was looking for photo opps.  In my mind, this meant looking for interesting, non-posed people shots.   However, Anna pointed out that the table decorations were quite interesting, so I snapped a few different angles to see what I could get.

I quite liked this shot, and it occurred to me then that The Red Thing was cropping up again, unbidden, and almost unnoticed. 

The Red Thing started when I moved into the cottage where I've been for the last 8 years or so.

It was a plain, threadbare little house with nothing warm about it whatsoever...Neither thermally, nor emotionally, nor psychologically.   The walls were pale and bare, as was the carpet.   The only room with any colour was the bathroom, which was a cold, pale, wintry blue. 

Except in the lounge, there was a huge red rug.  

I liked the warmth of it, so when I needed curtains, I got them in a similarly warm terracotta colour.   I also bought some cheap throws from Homebase, in the same sort of shade, and...you know....threw them. 

I say terracotta, everyone else (cough, Anna) seems to think they're red, whereas I see them as clearly burnt orange, not red at all.   I don't know how everyone else can be so wrong.  In the name of truth, I feel obliged to stand alone on this issue, against a spectrally deficient world.

Anyway it was the first time I'd chosen furnishings of my own, to my own taste, and I found it quite liberating.  The lounge now has lots of warm reds, terracottas and oranges.  And everyone seems to find it cosy...so, ya know, Yay Me!  And Anna of course, without whom it would probably just be red,rather than the homely warm room it now is...

Now I find that since starting to buy climbing clothing and equipment 3 years or so ago, probably every other item I've purchased has red on it, or is red, most frequently supplemented with greys and blacks.

So I have red shoes (5 pairs), red T-shirts (half a dozen), red long sleeve T's (3), black tops with red stitching (several).

I have a grey and red harness, a red belay carabiner, a red belay device.

I have black slings with red stitching (approx 5), red cams (2 or 3), red nuts (6 or 8), black and red chalk bag.

I have red rucksacks (2), red fleeces (2), red softshell jackets (2), a black softshell jacket with red stitching, and a red baselayer.

Oh, and a red rope.

And half a dozen red quickdraws.

And a red dry bag.

Hmm now I'm even freaking myself out...

I feel like the old creepy guy who wears too much red. 

Damn that The Red Thing...