Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Red (10/01/09)
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TITLE: "The Coloring Song" | Previous Challenge Entry
By
10/07/09 -
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Julie looked at her mother and smiled. “You sure do love the color red, don’t you!”
“Oh my, yes!” Eva responded emphatically. “It’s my favorite color, you know.”
Nodding, Julie settled down in her own chair and said, “So tell me, mom – why do you like red so much?” Julie had heard the stories many times, but she always loved the recounting of memories that would follow that question.
They both leaned back and closed their eyes as Eva began speaking. It was her habit to pause for a moment after the telling of a memory as if reliving it again, which always gave Julie time to dreamily picture the scenes in her own mind.
“For as long as I can remember”, Eva mused, “I’ve loved the color red. As a child mama often dressed me in red, and I always insisted that my grandmother knit my winter scarves and mittens out of fire-engine red yarn.
“And when we’d go into town, sometimes mama would let us girls choose a new hair ribbon at the fabric store. There would be all kinds of pretty colors to choose from, but invariably I would always be drawn to red. Didn’t matter if it matched all my outfits or not.
“I’ll never forget when I was eighteen, and my beau arrived at the house before the big dance in town with one hand behind his back. With great flourish he proffered a bouquet of the most beautiful, dark red velvety roses I’d ever seen. I smelled long and deep of their perfume, and was smitten. And when he proposed at the end of the night, I told your father “yes!” ” Eva smiled at this memory.
“Remember all the picnics we used to take as a family? I always brought the red-checkered tablecloth. I t just didn’t seem like a real outing if we didn’t have that cloth. And your father would always tie an old red bandana around his neck on those outings to humor me and my love of red.”, Eva chuckled. “What a man!”
“One year your dad surprised me with a trip to Spain. We hadn’t traveled much, but he just knew I’d love it. And I did! I loved watching the tall, graceful flamenco dancers in their sultry red dresses with big swirly skirts, full lips painted red to match. And at the bullfight I was gripped by the toreador as he deftly waved his red cape while nimbly dancing around that big, angry black bull.
“And just in case you think I’m silly for loving red so much, just look at nature. I think God loves red a whole lot more than I do! Red is everywhere – look at all the flora in shades of red. Look at fall’s colors, the brilliant reds of turning leaves. Look at the flaming reds in the sky at sunset. Magnificent!
“But by far, the most meaningful red to me is the red of Jesus’ blood that he shed on the cross for us. All the other reds pale in comparison to the significance and power of his blood in my life.” She paused and tilted her head slightly.
“Julie, do you remember that song you used to sing, called “The Coloring Song”? Would you mind singing the first verse of that for me again?”
Julie smiled at her mom still wrapped in her red blanket, and began softly singing:
Red is the color of the blood that flowed
Down the face of Someone Who loved us so
He's the perfect man, He's the Lord's own son,
He's the Lamb of God, He's the only one
That can give us life, that can make us grow,
That can make the love between us flow.
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This is really nice.
I had a hard time figuring out the ages of Julie and Eva...was Julie a child, a teen, an adult? Some clues would have helped me to better picture the scene.
I love that song--we don't hear it much any more!