The beginning of a brand new year is a blank page, a clean slate, a white canvas to write or draw or paint anything we want! Even though some of the pesky problems from 2020 will follow us into 2021, we can still paint our canvas!

Of course, if you want to be on the very cutting edge of cool, you should always paint your canvas with the Color of the Year. This is because the Color of the Year is chosen by the color gurus out in New York City who spend a lot of time and effort on such things.

 But this year, they threw us a curveball. This year they picked two colors! And believe it or not, they actually made sense. Either that or I’m starting to think like a New Yorker…NOT.

At any rate, the TWO Colors of the Year for 2021 are gray and yellow. Or, as the New Yorkers put it, Ultimate (Gray) and Illuminating (Yellow). 

Now, usually, when they pick a Color of the Year, we regular folks have a swell ol’ time making fun of it. They use phrases like “emanating, sophisticated, natural earthiness” or “ communicating originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking.” Remember, this is about a color of paint.

But this year, they kind of got it right. According to the color gurus, “Ultimate Gray” is what everybody feels like after months of living with a pandemic–cloudy skies, depression and a “mushy state of mind.” If you haven’t felt like that, even for a minute in the past few months, you are a remarkable person.

But “Illuminating Yellow,” which is the color of a lemon, is the light at the end of the tunnel…the dawning of hope…the return of normal life! Hooray!

According to the color gurus, lots of people were painting their walls while they were locked down. This is to cover up the fact that they were climbing them. This is also to break up boredom. Everybody knows when you give some bored kids paint brushes and tell them to paint, you will soon have LOTS to do because they will soon be painting the dog, the couch and each other. 

Of course, this doesn’t usually happen in rural areas, or especially on farms. Farm kids know if they even whisper the word “bored,” they will get put to work so fast their heads will spin. But there are many people who are not lucky enough to live on farms, so they have to do the best they can. This sometimes involves giving kids paintbrushes.

At any rate, if you have felt like you are living in a “mushy state of mind,” take heart! Get out and paint something yellow! It’s guaranteed to brighten up your day! And if you start a brand new year with a bright new color, it’s sure to be a great year! 

And if it’s not, if 2021 turns out to be another gray year, forget about the Colors of the Year…and stock up on chocolate.