In the house of words was a table of colors.
They offered themselves in great fountains,
and each poet took the color he needed:
lemon yellow or sun yellow,
ocean blue or smoke blue,
crimson red, blood red, wine red.
Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer

We see in Scripture that red is a color valued by the Lord for it played a prominent role in the building of the wilderness tabernacle in the Old Testament, and it is the color of life-giving blood, both ours and Christ’s.  And Galeano’s “poet” writes such striking rhymes and stanzas with it that one might believe he and the Lord love red the best.  In fact so lyrical is the poetry of red in a garden that my wanderings come to a halt, at least for a moment, when I come upon red blossoming beauties.  It was American fashion designer, Bill Blass, who said “red is the ultimate cure for sadness,” and I would have to agree.  Bright reds in a garden evoke an energizing kind of joy, and the deep reds add to that an air of a smiling, sultry mystery.  So I’m not at all surprised that “a red letter day” came into being to indicate one that is joyful and memorable.  I am surprised, however, that bees cannot see the color red and so don’t pollinate red flowers. When it comes to red blossoms pollination has to be done by birds, butterflies, bats, or the wind. I also find it odd that red is the topmost color of the rainbow, but it is the first color one loses sight of at twilight. No matter what the color red is or is not, does or does not do, I always think of it as a zesty spice in the garden, titillating to the senses and the eyes.

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.  ~Ecclesiastes 8:15 ✝