Orange and Yellow

There was this man in Paris who almost got away with stealing several paintings from the Louvre. After planning the crime, getting in and out past security, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas.

When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then made such an obvious error, he replied, "Monsieur, I had no Monet to buy Degas* to make the Van Gogh."

You thought I lacked De Gaulle to tell a story like this! Well, I did.

And speaking of artists, it was Van Gogh who articulated there is no blue without yellow or orange.

My orange and lemon trees are tempermental this year. There won't be many navel oranges and Meyer lemons to harvest this season. I have to draw the line somewhere.

If they get their act together for one last try this season, all will be forgiven. The request was if they would see the way Van Gogh did with colors, we can make blue. When they heard what I said, there was nary a quiver in their collective branches. Both gave me a noncommittal stare of silence.

A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament. There will be blue sky at Kevin's wedding today afterall. The orange and lemon trees are artist-extraordinaire. They would make Van Gogh proud.

*The correct pronunciation for Degas is "day-gaw". For the purpose of the joke, it is pronounced as de-gas.