A touch of gray/grey

(Birds at the Cleveland Zoo. Photo by Robin. 2007)

Being an American, I’m going to use the spelling I grew up with: Gray. It’s the American English variant of grey and one that I’m used to. I find it interesting that the spellchecker keeps underlining grey as if it’s spelled wrong. You can tell an American programmed it.

Gray has been described as an elegant neutral color. It’s conservative, cool, and is sometimes seen as cloudy or gloomy. In my description of The Blues I wrote that I thought the blues should be called the grays because that’s how depression feels to me: Gray.

(Storm clouds, getting ready to weep. Photo by Robin. 2007)

Gray, like black, is often used as a color of mourning. It reminds me of the mourning dove, who happens to be a gray bird, and its plaintive song.

Gray is the color of sorrow.

(Gray day in the Bogs. Photo by Robin. 2006)

In the corporate world, gray suits are almost standard issue uniforms. Dark or charcoal gray is considered sophisticated and mysterious, whereas lighter grays are somewhat similar to white. Gray is conservative and old-school.

(Note about format: I know my posts, especially the color series, are heavy on photos and that makes for slow going when it comes to loading if you don’t have a speedy internet connection. I’ve decided to try using the “more” feature. So, you know, click on that blue stuff down there that says “Continue reading A touch of gray/grey” to continue reading this post. Some of my readers are savvy enough to know that, but I know of one or two who might need a little help, being fairly new to the internet, blogging and all that jazz. And for those who care, I added links to the color series on the sidebar.)