Blue is one of the three primary colours, and no, I am not going to make it easy for you and tell you what the others are. You and Google are on your own. What I can tell you about blue is that it has been an important colour in art and decoration since ancient times. Some languages such as Russian and Spanish do not actually have a word for the colour blue, but rather multiple words for the variations of blue. The color is associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, and sadness. Also, intelligence, calm and concentration. It is, apparently, the favourite colour of almost half of people in the world. In the 12^th century, the Catholic Church dictated that European artists painted the Virgin Mary in blue, as the colour was associated with holiness, humility, and virtue. I wonder what 12^th century clergy would have made of James Cameron’s Avatar and the Smurfs. Blue is the backdrop for a few prominent flags, such as the flag of the United Nations and the European Union. The expression: once in a blue moon translates into a rarity or something that does not happen often. A blue moon is the second full moon in any calendar month with 2 full moons, which happens,….well….once in a blue moon.  Sometimes a moon can appear blue as a result of atmospheric conditions, such as volcanic ashes, smoke, or water droplets.

So then, what prompted me to share so much with you about the colour blue? You see, it is also the colour of the 15kg of blue berries our oldest son had sitting in his freezer. Why so many berries, I hear you ask? For that you can thank the latest port strike, which had an entire blue berry harvest meant for Sainsbury’s, waiting to be shipped, impatiently tapping away their tiny little blue berry feet. When it became evident that no blue berry would be departing our sunny shores, the berries became fair game for anyone that had money, space and a misplaced urge to go on a berry detox.

Blue berries are actually closer to purple in colour. They are made up of 84% water, and contain only negligible amounts of micronutrients, such as Vitamins C and K, which can be found abundantly in other larger, and cheaper vegetables, such as spinach, kale, and broccoli. Blue berries are very low in kilojoules, and in that I think lies its attraction. Somehow it just feels far more luxurious to nibble on a bowl of blue berries, than a bowl of salted peanuts. It is also gentler on your teeth. As with most superfoods, they are overrated and there is very little scientific claim as to all their magic bullet benefits. None of this however stopped oldest son from buying up plenty of blue berries. Some of it has been turned into what was meant to be jam. I wager a safe description of what went into the jars is better described as berry compote. I blame it on that 84% water, that seemed to increase in volume the longer I boiled it. We had fun making it, and which ever way we choose to eat it, it does taste very good.

Somewhere between the blue Virgin Mary and the Smurfs, blue became a popular colour for agents of law enforcement. This morning, Botrivier woke up to a hive of activity. Our very own (two) men in blue were called on to solve a crime: a break-in, right here in our midst. Clearly a break-in into a rather dubious building garnered a lot of interest. Coming from South Africa’s very own crime capital, Gauteng, it takes a lot for Colin and me to gasp at the audacity of the criminals. I am not sure what was stolen, but the brazenness of the crime had many a tongue clacking. To say that Botrivier is crime free, would be irresponsible, as they do have incidents. However, compared to our frame of reference, it is almost nonexistent. You may notice that I have made no reference to the theft of Eskom cables here – which happens every so often in Botrivier. There is a reason for it, you see. Somehow, cable theft is no longer a crime, it has become a pastime. If it still had crime status, our electricity supplier would not be in the pickle it finds itself. A neighbour just popped in to let me know that the culprits of this latest crime statistic have already been caught, so kudos to our very own two men in blue. Well done, chaps. Because of you, Botrivier is a safer place. Very often in the dark due to cable theft, but safe, none the less.

Once in a blue moon, our family also produces a very clever young person. In my generation, my older sister scooped the award before anyone else could get a chance to sniff at it. The next generation (our children) served up two clever people. And now this batten has been passed to the neeeext generation. My brother’s young grand daughter cleared out the silver ware at her school’s prize giving ceremony, taking home more awards than we had blue berries. Children these days are just born so much cleverer than their parents. My first year in school I spent colouring in and playing with play dough. Little niece was awarded for reading, sport, academics, and all sorts. I can bet you a jar of blue berry compote that she did that all on her own without the help of a super food, high in Vitamins C and K. Well done to her. We are all so proud. If pride had a colour today, it would be blue.

After a long beach walk to clear out the cobwebs, I popped into my favourite little farm stall yesterday. They too had loads of blue berries, beside the extra plump, extra red strawberries (sorry, Sainsbury’s). I hardly stopped to look at these, as I rushed straight to the back of the shop, where the apricots were being unpacked. There was nothing spectacular about the apricots. They did not look destined for a foreign market. They had not been awarded any prizes of achievement. They were just very ordinary fruit. My favourite fruit. The fruit bowl in the lounge is overflowing with apricots, with 3 avocados perched right on top, for variety. For the next week, I will enjoy them fresh, chopped into fruit salad or blitzed into a smoothy- elegantly presented in a tall, frosted glass, and topped with blue berry compote. Now that is worthy of a first prize.