Friday, July 3, 2020

Six Degrees of Crayons

You can buy a crayon box with 120 colors. I know 'cause I googled it.

There are few people who don't look around, especially this time of year, and wonder at the display of color Mother Nature presents to us. Beautiful blue skies, deep green leaves, brown soil, white clouds, flowers in every hue. And, when we're really lucky, we may catch a glimpse of a multicolored rainbow above it all. 


Rainbow | Picture taken by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com


Before I go on, let me just talk for a second about something else, completely off topic at this point, but I'll come back to it in the end, promise. 

Six degrees of separation. It's a thing. I've got a few interesting ones. In fact, I mentioned in my Flower Power post a couple of days ago, a cousin who created the saying "war is not healthy for children and other living things." Here's another one, my Woody Guthrie six degrees: Woody's son Arlo wrote a song called "Alice's Restaurant", it was made into a TV show starring Linda Lavin, who is a cousin of my step father's. We're interconnected in many ways, we have to just look for them.

Back to the crayons. I wonder, off on some tangent as I frequently go these days, what would happen if we put this whole crayon thing in a different context. What if the skin color of all the people of the world were divided evenly among those 120 colors. That's about 7,500,000,000 (7.5 billion) human beings, 62,500,000 (62.5 million) of whom would have skin the color of each of those crayons. 

What would happen then?

Six Degrees of Crayons, a discussion about color | Graphic created by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics


Would the blues only want to associate with other blues? Would they break down into tribes of specific hues within the blue family? What about aquas? Are they blues? Greens? Accepted by each? Outcasts to both?

Would yellows welcome their cousins the oranges? What about reds? Too much pigment for the yellows? But maybe accepted by their closer cousins the oranges? Would the oranges have to keep their relationship with the reds a secret from their yellow cousins? Or admit it right out there in the open?

How far would we take it? Will people be painting their houses? Trading in their cars? Buying a new wardrobe? Can a maroon play with a lime at recess? Would an indigo dare to marry a coral?

Oh, and food. Where do you stand on the whole tricolored rotini issue? A feast for the eyes? Or an inappropriate mix of colors? 

Grilled Scallops in Garlic Wine Sauce. Grilled (or pan seared) sea scallops are served over rotini tossed in a light sauce of wine and broth with garlic and green onions. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #grilling

Grilled Scallops in Garlic Wine Sauce
Grilled Scallops in Garlic Wine Sauce. Grilled (or pan seared) sea scallops are served over rotini tossed in a light sauce of wine and broth with garlic and green onions. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #grilling



If, just for one day, humanity were to be a living breathing embodiment of a box of crayons, how would you react?

Would you look around and see the world in terms of us and them?

Or would you look at the bigger picture and see the beauty in all of those spectacular colors?

And maybe, just maybe, in the spirit of six degrees of separation, would we all finally see just how closely related we are?


Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics




Grilled Scallops in Garlic Wine Sauce      
                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 TBSP butter
4 cloves minced garlic
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper
2/3 cup vegetable broth
3/4 cup white wine
1# garden rotini
1 1/2 - 2# sea scallops
salt and pepper to taste
fresh lemon wedges
grated parmesan

Directions:
*Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and green onions. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, then add 1/4 tsp black pepper, vegetable broth and white wine. Bring to the boiling point, then allow to simmer until the rest of the meal is ready.

*Cook the pasta to al dente, drain and keep warm.
*Preheat your grill to medium high. 
*Pat the scallops dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and allow to cook for 3 - 5 minutes, until the bottom is well browned. Flip over and cook another 3 - 5 minutes until they are fully cooked (they'll be opaque and the sides will flake with a fork).
*OPT: you can do this in a large saute pan, just add about 1 TBSP oil and do not crowd the pan.
*Add the sauce to the pasta and mix well. Top with the cooked scallops. Serve with lemon wedges and grated parmesan.

18 comments:

  1. This sounds yummy. My spouse makes something a bit like this but different (if that makes any sense). Your post makes me thoughtful. I majored in cultural anthropology and I am convinced that the "we and they" distinctions that all humans seem to make in some way is part of human hard wiring. I am not even sure anymore, if space aliens showed up tomorrow and started to war with us, if we humans would unite us vs. them (the space aliens)or tear ourselves apart arguing about the best way to deal with the space alien invasion. This does not at all mean that hating people just because they are light skinned or dark skinned or because their eyes may be shaped differently than ours, or their hair looks different, is right. We are intelligent enough to know (you would think) that it is wrong and that type behavior should not be tolerated anymore. Will we ever learn? I'm just not optimistic about that today. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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    1. I was optimistic, or maybe naive, but over the last 3 1/2 years I've had my eyes open and am losing my ability to be hopeful.

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  2. I wonder at times how there can be so many different colours and this made me think about different people

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    Replies
    1. Good, it was supposed to make you think about different people, and connections between us all.

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  3. I want to be any blue except cobalt blue. Cobalt kinda blows. I know, not the point...

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  4. How i would love to be a purple, but i would enjoy seeing every color.

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  5. Something interesting to ponder about that box of humans in every hue. Not sure what the answer is, but it's a nice thought.

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    Replies
    1. I think, way past my time, the answer is going to be that most of the people in this country will be a mix of colors and nationalities and maybe (just maybe) there will be a little less bigotry.

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  6. I choose the rainbow every single time and I'm a total tri-colored pasta kind of girl always have been. On another note, I loved Alice! It was one of my favorite shows when I was growing up. I had a crush on Alice's son lol!

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    Replies
    1. I knew you'd choose the rainbow, you're one of those people who see the beauty in color and the positive aspects of diversity.

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  7. Definitely seeing the beauty of the colours! And the awesome picture we make when we are all together!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, great analogy, I knew this one would resonate with you.

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  8. I love all the crayon colors. Your post makes me want to go buy a box of Crayolas and do some mindful coloring of mandalas. When you look at the spectrum of colors they seem to all be united in some way. Wish the world was right now.

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    Replies
    1. Yes exactly, wish the world was right now (and forever more).

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  9. This is such an uplifting and a profound thought, Karen! I wish we can embody the beauty of life and see it as a treat for the eyes- through a deep bonding just like a pack of crayons, then life would be so colorful and full of joy, hope, and celebration for every human soul! I wish! I am going to share this post and bookmark it too! Beautifully crafted, Karen.

    And the recipe looks so delicious. My daughter loveeeesss pasta. Will try making this!

    Hugs,
    Epsita
    https://www.thepositivewindow.com/

    ReplyDelete

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