Color Theory: Island Style

Gleaming orange flesh of a ripe mango seed dripping with sweet juice.

A handful of scarlet plums gathered in the last hours of daylight.

Bumpy, moss-colored skin of a massive jackfruit hanging heavy on a bough, like a prehistoric creature.

Many species of mangoes collected like rare jewels: sunwashed magenta, pale gold, red shading to amber.

Bright green skin of a hand of stubby bananas, which ripened to yellow in the trunk of our car.

The ruddy flush of my children’s cheeks after four hours at a water park.

Azure water dappled with lavender and aqua shadows.

Thunder gray cloud mass obscuring the sun.

Bright white lightning zigzagging across the sky, sending us running out of the ocean.

Flame red poinciana flowers after the rain, clustered on the treetops along Bay Street.

Clear slime of fresh aloe painted on a patch of angry skin.

Granules of pale sand dried on my ankles and calves.

Briny olive clusters of seaweed floating in the surf.

Reddish brown clay rolled between my palms at a friend’s pottery studio.

Painted orange walls and Spanish-tiled roof of our rental home.

A coal-colored reef stretching out to sea, the boulders wet and craggy.

Charred jerk chicken from Sonia’s at the Fish Fry, the best we’ve had on the island.

Translucent strands of cooked cabbage dotted with carrots and peppers.

An orange square of baked macaroni and cheese I now have to take a Lactaid to enjoy.

Bright yellow hot patty peeking out of a brown paper bag.

Creamy guava duff sauce studded with chunks of pink fruit from Swiss Pastry Shop.

Limoncello-tinted Island Spritz cocktail garnished with a sprig of thyme.

Silvery scales of grouper fish caught by my eleven-year-old son in the waters of Exuma.

Burnt sienna undertones of minced lobster, a fresh catch expertly prepared by my mother-in-law.

A slab of still-warm, honey-colored Johnny cake I cannot resist.

The clear broth of a post-flight chicken souse - tangy, spicy and so hot, I scald my tongue.

Delicate pink plumeria flowers tucked behind my daughter’s ear.

Tan-colored lizard camouflaged on the ribs of a rattan chair, plotting his next leap.

Dingy gold fur of stray “potcake” dogs in the moonlight.

The soft pink glow of dawn rippling in the water before an early flight.

Time worn pastels of limestone buildings downtown.

Milky white frangipani petals strewn on the grass.

Curling green vines of cerasee winding through the underbrush.

Deep purple cocoplums collected in a glass bowl.

Murky streams of rainwater rushing down stone steps.

Dark silhouette of a black ibis dipping its long beak in a roadside puddle.

Small brown feet of my brother-in-law’s twin babies shuffling on the kitchen tiles.

Ivory flesh of star apple, grainy, soft and sweet like pudding.

Fuchsia bougainvillea blossoms reaching over a white fence.

Deep green of palm fronds bending in the wind.

Yellow mango juice stains on my kids’ clothes, souvenirs of time well-spent.

Happy summer and thank you for reading!