More Truths About Blue

Did your friend give you that jumper? asked Pliny the Elder, who had noticed it was blue.

No, she didn't, I said crossly. And you are the second person today to ask me that question. I've had it for years and I chose it myself.

It's a very pleasant shade, said Pliny. What would you call it, azure?

I might call it azure, I replied. But nowadays I prefer to call it Classic Windows Blue.

My goodness, so it is, said Pliny. Classic Windows Blue. Why do you hardly ever wear it?

Because I don't really like it any more.

Then why are you wearing it today?

I'm not sure. I think it was a subliminal choice, to do with my hair, and the Doppler effect. And you know, when we went to visit my mother this afternoon, and I was sitting at her dining room table leafing through the pages of The Australian Womens Weekly, she leaned forward and said, I can see the auburn in your hair now, under this light.

So you were happy that you wore the blue jumper?

Well I was at the time, but later on she asked me if my daughter had bought it in London.