In recent years I’ve been experiencing the usual decline in eyesight that comes with getting older.
In fact, I have a rather expensive and beautiful pair of glasses with graduated lenses somewhere – I haven’t seen them since I moved from North York. By the time I find them my prescription will have changed and the frames will be out of style. Or do you think cat’s eye frames are classics? Kidding!
Lately I’ve noticed that I’m having real trouble distinguishing brown from black. When the colours are next to each other, like they are in our TV room rug, it’s no problem. But on their own, I’ve made several errors. After the memorial for my friend Joe I realized I had been wearing a brown belt with my black outfit. This isn’t a big deal but I thought it was black when I chose it to wear. On Friday, I wore brown shoes thinking they, too, were black. I noticed my error halfway through the day. Granted, the belt and the shoes are brand new and I was wearing them for the first time. Maybe that has something to do with it? But when I bought them I thought they were black.
Has anyone else experienced this? I always thought navy and black were difficult to distinguish from each other. But now I’m having trouble with dark brown. Maybe they’re making dark brown, darker? Almost, shall we say, black?
I had to chuckle at your experiences with colours for reasons you likely understand. However being completely serious, the ability to distinguish between the darker shades of blue, grey, browns and black are very much dependant on the quality of lighting of your surroundings and even then it can still require a side by side comparison to be completely sure. However here is another thought, are the blues, greys and browns actually getting darker or is it that the blacks are actually getting lighter, for all blacks aren’t created equal and I suspect the latter maybe the case.
Allan, you are too clever for your own good and for reasons that only you and I will understand! I have recently tried to correct the poor lighting situation in my closet, thinking that it might be contributing to my brown/black problem. Still, the difference between the two used to leap out to me. Oh well. It’s a minor quibble in the big scheme of things!