Green is the Happiest Color
A winter respite in Northern Italy and looking to the future.
I grew up in Northern Ohio. My hometown ranks among the 10 most cloudy cities in the country; it was gray a lot of the time.
Winters were a double whammy: cloudy weather and barren trees. It was like being stuck inside a black-and-white movie — grays, blacks, and some white (mostly slushy snow).
Winters now are mostly spent just outside of Washington, DC. It, too, is tinted gray.
It feels like being deprived of something essential.
I realize during the first moments of spring or on a winter respite, that green is my happy color. It lifts my spirits. I think it is because it symbolizes hope — that pervasive grays will go away and a more pleasant life will be in its place. Green is the promise of a good and better life.
Winter Respite -Filled with green.
At the beginning of the year, we spent two weeks in Northern Italy, in the province of Liguria. Liguria hugs the sea, starting just above Tuscany and following the coast to France. The sea moderates the climate, never getting below freezing. The air is laden with moisture. Together, that means green!
We began in Milan. A beautiful city but absent of green during a time of steady rain.
Making our way to Liguria, the first days were rainy—finally, one morning, a dawn of greens and golds.
With modest travel and sightseeing plans, our focus turned to the subtle but sublime — the green of life and hope. We found those in abundance on a walk through a park.
As we ascended the short hills of the park, charming additions heightened the experience.
The gods and goddesses of old were entwined with nature.
I found it hard at the moment to understand why I was so captivated by the moss — simple and unnoteworthy, but it radiated to me.
Its simplicity was in contrast to the majesty of the trees.
Reaching the hill’s top, we encountered green and its becoming — a flowering tree.
And the crowning moment — looking to the sea — the welcome future when we can embrace it during the summer.
Discovering green during times when it is mostly absent makes life feel lighter. It feels like bursting into freedom.
It is my happy color and offers the promise of the future.
The Globetrotters Monthly Challenge of celebrating green has unleashed a torrent of great stories.
I loved the writing of Ophélie Quillier as she relates the lushness of England’s green.
Capturing why the editors of Globetrotters chose Irish green, TRAVEL STORIES BY GABE shows the delightful nature he encountered in hiking near Dublin.
And for the contrast and conflict between lovely green and the encroachments of civilization, please read the important story by Ronald Smit.
Enjoy all of the wonderful stories on green and all things travel!
