I agree, Kendall. And much as I like many of the 'things' promulgated above, very few of them, if any, fit the thesis I set out. Which is OK- it's nice to hear all those good thoughts and visualize those images - but to my mind they enhance the richness of life, they aren't the core of life itself.

And perhaps color isn't either, but as I sit here in the home where I am housesitting I am surrounded on three sides by windows and with the glass door wide open, I look out upon a myriad of shades of spring green with here and there splashes of red and yellow and white and blue and purple; at my right are bird feeders and finches and song sparrows and wrens and hummingbirds dart hither and yon and the air is filled with their songs, it is impossible to imagine a world without color.