What is Robin’s Egg Blue: A Memory

BY GREG JOHNSON

When I was a kid, I loved this color more than any other. 

I’d find robin’s eggs, usually pecked-open partial shells, in the nearby woods — and they seemed like exotic jewels to me. Especially in their muted surroundings of forest green and brown, they were supernaturally, brilliantly beautiful.

One Saturday, when I was with my dad at the hardware store, I was astonished to find a paint can labeled Robin’s Egg Blue. I was so excited. After some pleading and wheedling on my part, and some good-natured teasing on his, he agreed that we could repaint my bedroom.

We did. My walls were Robin’s Egg Blue. My ceiling was Robin’s Egg Blue. So was the inside of my closet. Even my wooden desk was Robin’s Egg Blue.

Today, Susan took this lovely photo of the robin’s nest in the cherry tree a few steps outside our kitchen window. 

Still breathtaking.

Greg Johnson is a retired editor at Louisville’s Courier Journal and a co-author of the book, ‘Real Barbecue.’

This article appears on page 21 in the Home and Garden section of the June 2023 issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of the print edition of Ace, click here. To join the Ace Eats out Facebook group, click here.