Think Out Loud [20] Chasing Shadows

[image error]
At the zoo a couple weeks back a little girl cute as anything spun around, her blond hair in a twirl that matched her dress. I looked at John ahead of me who once told me I would have another kid. "Take it back, John," was my mature response. The little girl was precious. "Mama, it won't stop chasing me!" I instinctively stopped. Her mom chuckled. "I can't believe she discovered her shadow at the zoo." A jolt of pure joy went through me. I waited to hear how the mom explained shadows. Was her approach going to be more successful than mine with John? I was practically chewing my fingernails in suspense. Why, you may ask? Shadows define an artist's world, shapes take form under the beauty of dark and light. Writers revel in the dichotomy of the two worlds as well, just differently. "That's your shadow, baby." I looked back at John who smiled his naughty smile. I knew what it meant, "See, Mom. There's an explanation a kid can appreciate."

[image error] Many months back John spun around like a cat trying to catch his tail. "John, John, that's your shadow. Oh my goodness! Okay, light bounces off an object, wait, where's the light source, ah, yes. Look, early morning sun, perfect!" "Mom." "Wait. See the sun beats down on you, but your body is blocking some of the light. You can draw a direct line-" "Mom." "You haven't heard the best part. I'm telling you this is so cool. There are colors in shadows. Colors! The color of the light will create a color opposite it on the color wheel. Yellowish light gives you violets and purples. Orange gives your cyan and aquamarine. Oh, oh, wait till Christmas time when people use those green porch lights. Magenta, John!" "Mom!" "Right, right, right." I stomped down on his long shadow (accented with hints of violet). "See, that. I just kicked your shadow's butt. Oh, look at that, stepped on your shadow again." He squealed. I laughed big and loud as we chased each other's shadows. Neither kid cares yet about colors in shadows.
Think Out Loud is crazy awesome. A meme like no other. Post a picture, poem, favorite word. Honest, Think did that one time. Come and hang out with us. We promise to pay attention!
(By Philippe Alès (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons)(By Sakurambo at en.wikipedia [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], from Wikimedia Commons)