Yellow Is the Color...

... of the sun and of daisies

... fire hydrants and fire rules

... road and traffic warnings

... machinery that works for a living

But, lately, just one heck of a lot of vehicles are showing up in yellow -- pickup trucks, jeeps...

...and classy new sedans,

...his'n her dirt bikes

... and even a fully loaded hog. As one who loves bright, strong colors, I really applaud this trend away from all those don't-see-me colors that have drabbened (endrabbed?) our city streets for too long. Everybody: give a hip hip hooray for yellow!

Update: The Fates Made Me Look Foolish

Nothing like finding out that you were wrong or wrong- headed or that the Fates had singled you out to make you look foolish. (I prefer the latter explanation.)

Take the playground at Lincoln School. One week I walked by everyday and the gates were locked. I reported this and whined. Some time later (about two weeks ago) I pass by -- lo and behold, folks are frolicking in what had been forbidden territory. Ditto this evening when I went out for my walk. Some of the gates were still locked -- but the main entrances were open to the public. Bravo!


The same Fates whispered in the ears of auto stylists in Detroit and Tokyo at about the time I complained about the dull plumage of modern cars. "Do something to make GrannyJ look dumb and unobservant," they said.

Guess what -- suddenly the streets are full of all shades of yellow plus an occasional bright orange vehicle for good measure. A few pastel blue and green cars are now showing up, too. Not only that, but I have seen a handful of assertively two-toned SUVs, just like in the good old days.

And imagine my real embarassment when I looked more closely at the daughter's Subaru -- it, too, is a two-toner.

There are times you can't win!


Later Update: I finally did what I should always do -- consult the Google. And found: 24.1% of cars sold in the past year were silver, 16.7% black, 12.7% blue. Gold was only 2.6%. As to what's ahead:

Others believe that greys -- deeper, darker metallics -- will eclipse the lighter silvery shades. "Grey offers more dimensions, from warm to cool," says Leighton. "It's a fresh look and an alternative to silver."

And blue is gaining fast. "There is a whole trend in blue and purple," says Webb. Of the 21 new shades his company is currently developing, "at least half are blue or have some evidence of blue in them."

Dull Camouflaged Cars

When I was a kid and when I was a teenager and when I was a young mother, cars came in Real Colors. Like tans, greens, blues and yellows, sometimes bright, sometimes pastel and sometimes dark. Two-tones were popular, too. And the early station wagons featured real wood paneling.


Today, what do we have? Aside from Arrest-Me Red, car colors are either white or some shade of Can't-See-Me. Makes for a dull parking lot or street scene. Oh, yes, I have noticed that every year or so, the auto styling gurus allow one (1--count-em--1) Real Color to reach the showrooms. Usually it's a dark shade. And metallized. Blue. Green. The colors of scarab beetles.

Occasionally one of those wonderful fiesta-colored VW bugs made in Mexico shows up on our streets. Curious -- I couldn't find any good pictures of lime green or lavender or pink Mexican VWs when I went a-googling. Though cars from a vintage VW show at this site certainly come a variety of colors.

Things are a bit different in Japan, (thank you, Google) where the two-tone vehicle is preferred. And I learned tonight that an Italian firm has a two-tone luxury model on display. But it is, again, in colors dark enough to merit the Can't-See-Me tag.

Funny thing, in a Murphy's law sort of way: while I was riding home from the supermarket, I saw both a taxicab-yellow sports sedan and an incredibly BRIGHT orange family SUV. That's what comes of riding rather than walking -- I wasn't able to get a picture of either!