What Color Is Your Sky?

I was taught in school why the sky is blue. It is due to the scattering of light by dust particles and air molecules in the atmosphere. With this solid reasoning, for the longest time, I never questioned for a moment, that the sky was anything but blue. Not that I have not seen sunsets – I have. But if I were asked in a closed room what the color of the sky is, I would say blue. 

In fact, my little daughter likes to play a game called “Dada Blew Up.” It goes like this:

Her: “What is your name?”
Me: “Dada.”
Her: “What color is the sky?”
Me: “Blue.”
Her: “What is the opposite of down?”
Me: “Up.”
Her: “Dada blew up! Ha ha ha ha.”

This concept of a blue sky had been so ingrained in me that I was surprised when I once heard my daughter describe it differently. She was 4 years old and in preschool. One day I stayed around for “circle time.” That day, it was her turn to name the day and describe the weather (cloudy/sunny/rainy/etc.). It was a cloudy day with no blue visible. Her teacher asked, "OK Ammu, what color is the sky today?” Apparently “white” was a perfectly acceptable answer. It was also the right answer at that time!

Although I had often seen the sky in different colors, I had never before “heard” the color of the sky as white – or anything other than blue. It was a paradigm shift. Almost like a Copernican shift.

I have a black SUV. I say black, because it is predominantly black on the outside. Even there - on the outside - the door handles, the turn signals, the tail lights, the headlights, the logo, and the alloy wheels are not black. But since it is primarily black, I say it is black. I suppose that is the same reason I say the sky is blue. Even though, it is black for a longer time than it is any other color (all night), when ever I look up at it, it is usually blue.

Clearly, my perspective is tainted by my beliefs and what I have been taught. Somewhat like the “Turtles all the way down” philosophy. Although, not quite. Perspectives are hard to change. Those rooted in reality are even harder to change. But with an open mind, I can definitely see other perspectives and merge them with my own.

One lesson I learned from that experience at Circle Time is that the same object/fact/event/question can be understood differently by different people. And they don’t have to be wrong for me to be right. We can all be right (or wrong) simultaneously.  

This weekend we visited friends in Sacramento. On our way back, my son took many pictures of the sky. Here are some of them taken over a period of 3 hours, and a few more taken last week. One thing that stays the same about the sky is that it is always beautiful...at least here in California. :)