Monday, July 2, 2012

Tour de Fleece, Day 3

In today's episode of "Where in the World is Bunny Watson," I practiced threaditation and actually reached yarnvana.   And learned a little about how colors affect my nervous system, I think.

At work today, I took Bunny for a stroll, looking for a quiet and shady outdoor place to spin.  No such thing around here!  But I did find a tiny shady corner in a sunny courtyard.  The sides and other corners of the courtyard were packed with chattering (mostly) students.  In my little spot there was just enough room for Bunny and me to sit together companionably.

So I began spinning, and after a few minutes fiddling with speed and tension, I was able to settle down and focus on a consistent yarn.  After a few minutes, I suddenly realize that everything around me has become crystal clear, but separated from me and my little world.  I don't feel any of the aches and pains left over from yesterday's dance lessons.   The conversations around me that were just a cacophony, have separated into distinct voices, and the tinkle of the courtyard's fountain is magnified.  I feel like even my vision is affected -- everything is bright and in sharp focus.  I could get used to this.

Then I notice that the clarity fades in and out as the colors I'm spinning change.  The experience is the sharpest when I'm spinning the purple shades.  Still good as they move through blue, beginning to lose focus going through the green shade, and pretty much out of the zone when I hit the yellow.  Start to relax again at orange, getting more focus at pink, then back in the zone at purple.  I realize that while I pretty much despise orange, my real aversion is to colors that have a predominance of yellow.  Except in flowers and plants.  Is this just because I look awful in yellow tones?  Not really.  This dates all the way back to my childhood, because I can remember not liking the yellow and orange M&Ms.  I remember eating them in order from my least favorites, the two brown ones (those don't count because they're not colors on my personal color wheel), then the orange and yellow, and finally the really good ones, green and then red.  There were no blue m's back then -- as much as I like blue, on a little hard-shelled candy it's just wrong.

This sends me in search of information about color aversion.  As usual, theories abound on the internet.  Some say yellow aversion is a symptom of autism.  Hmm....   A color therapy site tells me that I'm disappointed and bitter, and that I tend to form shallow relationships because of my fear of being hurt.  Another site tells me I may be xanthophobic.  There's even an online test to determine how badly my aversion to yellow may be affecting my life and a home study program to help me recover from it.

Sorry, folks, but this time I think the cigar is just a cigar.  Daffodils, yes.  Raincoats, no.  Lemons, yes.  Housepaint, no.  Yellow is just one of those colors that should occur only in nature.

Yes, I'm rambling, but since I'm the only one who actually reads my blog, 100% of my readership agree that this is ok.

Back to the adventures of Bunny and Me...   When the sun consumes all the shade in my little corner of the courtyard, I suddenly know that it's time to go.  I look down and realize that I have spun up all but the last three colors of the last repeat of this roving.  Wouldn't you know it, two of the colors are yellow and orange.

Here's Bunny on location.  That's kind of a hint but a bit of a stretch.  Not telling exactly where, but that's a statue of Douglas Fairbanks in the center of the photo.





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