Not Blue

(row by row from top left) Is it Irish Green or Irish Blue? Here’s an illuminated letter from the 13th century showing Saint Patrick (napping on the left) in a blue robe. Live shamrocks are always green. The rolling Tuscany countryside is as green as the Irish countryside. Some green foods: Limes, apples & peas. I don’t know what that plant is but is sure is cool! And green. Golf greens are green and Famous Green Jackets that the best golfer gets at the Masters are green, too. What’s-his-name plays for the Green Bay Packers. And there’s the Green Lantern. Kermit the frog and a real cute frog. The color of money. I had to ask but those guys are called Green Day and there’s Tom Green (who?). Finally, I changed my logo colors for St. Patrick’s Day and will make only two collector edition t-shirts for only $14,000.00 each (+ tax and shipping). Just send me your size and a certified check. 

Stephen O’Shannessy O’Brien McMurphy Patrick Michael O’Kowalski back again with a friendly reminder to celebrate this Sunday, one of my favorite holidays, St. Patrick’s Day. Now, the Irish will tell you, there’s only two types of people in the world – “the Irish, and those that wish they were.” FUN! I love to jump right in and celebrate my deeply rooted heritage, that is correct the extreme love of food – especially the corned beef, carrots, potatoes and cabbage part!  Many traditions surrounding this day also include parades, leprechauns, shamrocks, rainbows, singing and dancing, and the wearing of green.  As I was laying out my wardrobe for Sunday (green socks!) I got to thinking – just why is St. Patty’s Day connected to green?  Here’s some green trivia – and special thanks to colormatters.com, csmonitor.com and Print Magazine for the info – Enjoy!

  1. We all know of course, the early St. Patrick’s color was blue (learn more HERE).  According to some accounts, blue was the first color associated with St. Patrick’s Day, but that started to change in the 17th century. Green is one of the colors in Ireland’s tri-color flag, and Ireland is the “Emerald Isle,” so named for its lush green landscape. Green is also the color of spring and the shamrock.
  2. Forgot to wear green on St. Patty’s Day? Don’t be surprised if you get pinched. No surprise, it’s an entirely American tradition that probably started in the early 1700s. St. Patrick’s revelers thought wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see (anyone not wearing green). People began pinching those who didn’t wear green as a reminder that leprechauns would sneak up and pinch green-abstainers.
  3. Green with envy. Love is evergreen.  “It’s not easy being green.”  Green is everywhere – it’s the most common color in the natural world, and it’s second only to blue as the most common favorite color.   It’s the color we associate with money, the environment, and aliens, and it’s the color of revitalization and rebirth.
  4. The ancient Egyptian god Ptah was depicted with a green face. In Egyptian painting, green was a beneficial color that protected against evil.
  5. The Roman emperor Nero was known for eating a large amount of leeks he consumed, which was unusual for a high-ranking person at that time. Leeks were strongly associated with the color green, and even lent their name to one of the Greek words for the color, prasinos.
  6. The Roman Empire’s chariot races featured two opposing stables: the Blues and the Greens. The Blues represented the Senate and the patrician class, while the Greens represented the people. Each stable was backed by a large, influential organization with a network of clientele and a lobby that extended far outside the racecourse.
  7. The prophet Muhammad favored the color green. After becoming the dynastic color of the Fatimids, green came to be the sacred color of Islam as a whole.
  8. During the Middle Ages, green was the color of hope for pregnant women in particular. Pregnant women in paintings were often shown wearing green dresses.
  9. Possessing a green shield, tunic, or horse’s quarter sheet often meant that a knight was young and hotheaded. One well-known example of a “green knight” is found in the late fourteenth-century Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
  10. In Gothic stained-glass windows, green was the color of demons, sorcerers, dragons, and the Devil himself.
  11. Dyeing in green was difficult during the Middle Ages. Green dyes from plants produced faint and unstable color that grew even more faded when mordant, or fixative, was applied. Because of this instability, green came to represent inconstancy, duplicity, and betrayal. Judas, for example, is often shown dressed in green.
  12. Physically, in the presence of green, your pituitary gland is stimulated. Your muscles are more relaxed, and your blood histamine levels increase, which leads to a decrease in allergy symptoms and dilated blood vessels, aiding in smoother muscle contractions. In short, green is calming, stress-relieving, and – a bit paradoxically – invigorating. It’s been shown to improve reading ability and creativity.  Don’t forget can cause excitability in small children and dogs!
  13. Green stands for balance, nature, spring, and rebirth. It’s the symbol of prosperity, freshness, and progress. In Japanese culture, green is associated with eternal life, and it is the sacred color of Islam, representing respect and the prophet Muhammad.
  14. We associate green with vitality, fresh growth, and wealth.   We generally think of it as a balanced, healthy, and youthful. We use green in design for spaces intended to foster creativity and productivity, and we associate green with progress – think about giving a project the “green light.”
  15. Someone who feels sick might look “green around the gills,” and certain yellow-gray greens have a distinctly unpleasant, institutional feel to them. We link green with envy and with greed, and even the Mr. Yuck sticker intended to warn children away from potentially hazardous chemicals is a bright, eye-catching green.
  16. In Aztec culture, green was considered to be royal because it was the colour of the quetzal plumes used by the Aztec chieftains.
  17. In Portugal, green is the color of hope because of its associations with spring.
  18. In the highlands of Scotland, people used to wear green as a mark of honor.
  19. There is a superstition that sewing with green thread on the eve of a fashion show brings bad luck to the design house.
  20. Green is the color of love associated with both Venus, the Roman goddess and Aphrodite, the Greek goddess.
  21. Green was the favorite color of George Washington, the first President of the United States.
  22. The color green signifies mystical or magical properties in the stories of King Arthur.
  23. Green is the color used for night-vision goggles because the human eye is most sensitive to and able to discern the most shades of that color.
  24. Bright green is the color of the astrological sign “Cancer.”
  25. Green thumb (US) or Green fingers (UK): an unusual ability to make plants grow.
  26. Green room: a room (in a theater or studio) where performers can relax before or after appearances.
  27. Greener pastures: something newer or better (or perceived to be better), such as a new job.
  28. Greenhorn: novice, trainee, beginner
  29. Going green: when someone or something makes changes to help protect the environment or reduces waste or pollution.
  30. The message you send by driving a vehicle that is Dark Green: Traditional, trustworthy, well-balanced. However, if your vehicle is a Bright Yellow-Green, you give a different impression: Trendy, whimsical, lively.
  31. “Lime” was the original scent of the bright green colored Magic Scents Crayons from Binney & Smith Inc., introduced in 1994 with mostly food scents. However, there were numerous reports that children were eating the food-scented crayons, so the food scents were retired and replaced with non-food scents. The scent for the color bright green became “eucalyptus.”
  32. AromaPod, a scented lifestyle tool, uses the color green with the scent that provides calm.

SOME GREEN TUNES TO HELP WIND DOWN YOUR WEEK

  1. Blue in Green by Miles Davis
  2. Early Morning Blues and Greens by The Monkees
  3. Evergreen by Barbra Streisand
  4. Green River by Credence Clearwater Revival
  5. Kermit’s song