Love Letters in Crayon: Gold
The Color Canon endeavors to pay tribute to the undisputed champion of metals.
Every Friday afternoon, “64 to Infinity: Love Letters in Crayon” will illustrate the long, strange story of humankind in one of the 64 colors that make up this world-famous primary palette. Last week’s Love Letter considered the curious case of Green-Yellow…in this week’s installment, Gold makes its inimitable appearance…aren’t we lucky?
Representing what is thought to be one of the oldest elements in the Universe, #The64's Gold crayon captures a spectacularly shimmering shade which needs no introduction...but demands one nevertheless.
Our fascination with the paradigmatic precious metal extends back far into antiquity, where it was administered for healing at the dawn of medicine in the belief that something so uncommonly magnificent could only be beneficial to human health.
The legacy of Gold as the quintessential color of power and privilege across civilizations and historical eras is known, but this most glamorous tone also bears ample utilitarian potential.
Gold has exceptional conductive capabilities, outperforming more common metals such as aluminum and nickel while remaining impervious to tarnish.
It also reflects heat and light extraordinarily well, as anyone who has been struck with a gleaming golden glint can attest.
Gold is tremendously ductile, and a single ounce of the malleable material can be drawn out into a wire measuring 80 kilometers in length as well as flattened into a nearly transparent sheet.
These uncanny attributes make Gold a preferred production resource in the manufacture of items including high-end cable connectors and smartphones at all price points along with premium heat shielding in supercars such as the iconic McLaren F1.
Although the spell of this magical metal has transfixed mankind since time immemorial, Gold merits an even higher status as our technology advances into the stars.
Its ability to block infrared light and electromagnetic radiation was discovered as the forces themselves were revealed to human knowledge, and so it is used as a protective coating on the faceplates of spacewalk suits as well as on the network of artificial satellites that orbit our globe.
Humanity's longstanding lust for Gold drove men in their pursuit of the godlike power to synthesize it from base materials.
This blend of superstition and science was known as alchemy, and yielded the roots of chemistry and its transformative gifts to mankind.
Gold is also literal stardust, created on a cosmic scale in the reality-bending collisions of these inconceivably massive celestial bodies, so now you see why I am obsessed with this color.
Well, Gold will be a tough act to follow (if a lacklauster actual crayon, to be fair)--how can you compete with gleaming artistic decor forged in the cosmic foundry and all that--but maybe just maybe Goldenrod can draw a bit of nostalgia out of you next week?
Hey, AJ here. You’ve already made my day by taking the time to check out this selection from my book, “64 to Infinity: Love Letters in Crayon!” Most writers live and die without ever being appreciated, and so every moment of your time is a personal gift to me.
My career as a writer is made possible almost entirely by readers like you. If you’d like to support human creativity directly, you can make a monthly contribution through Patreon.
….and if you’d like to see a second hardcover print run for “64 to Infinity: Love Letters in Crayon,” you can make a one-time donation to the “64 to Infinity” Print Run Fund.