Predominantly Pink

Black is one of my favorite colors.  I adore red.  Teal greens and complimentary purples are the color palette of my wardrobe.  If there is a color that I abhor in my wardrobe, it is pink.  I just don't do pink.

It is therefore ironic that my Bermuda is predominantly pink.  Pink is an icon here in Bermuda, it is the nation's signature color.  The men wear pink.  A good percentage of the houses are pink.  The buses are pink.  The sand is pink.  The sunsets are pink. There are a few Pepto-Bismol pink taxis. The tourism board's marketing logo is "Think Pink."  Bermudians are encouraged to be "Pink Ambassador's." And now it's October and there is an extra splash of pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. 


I am smothered in a pink wonderland.  While this is the perfect pink paradise for my pastel loving friends like Barbara, I sometimes feel like little Ralphie in the "pink nightmare" when I look around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZTZ_lxvBes

Pink sand is a bit of a luxury to most people.  Bermuda is not the only place with pink sand beaches, but it certainly has some of the best pink sand beaches.  Trip Advisor's 2013 Traveller's Choice named Bermuda's famous Horseshoe Bay as the Number 8 beach in the world.  Horseshoe Bay was famous long before this, and with the Fairmont Southampton Princess only a few hundred metres away, it is usually the island's busiest beach.  Bermuda has the distinction of of having more coastline and beaches than it has mainland -- the country is less than 21 square miles but the coastline traces 54 miles.  This means we have a lot of beaches...the north shore tends to be calmer and rockier, while the south shore faces the brunt of currents and winds and is therefore more powerful and has larger beaches with powdery sand, ranging from white to pink.  Even on the busiest holidays of the year, while tourism is at its peak, you can find your own deserted beach if you know where to go.



Warwick Long Bay Beach


So why is the sand pink?  Let's take a closer look at it and see what it the grains of sand look like.  I hope you will appreciate that I looked like a crazy person on my elbows and knees with my camera and face pressed to the sand to get this next shot.

Bermuda pink sand

The sand is very soft underfoot.  It may look rocky but this in fact the granules are very smooth and it is comfortable to walk on and play in the sand.  It also manages to be quite sticky, and you end up with pink sand dunes in your shower in the summer.  The pink grains are actually little pieces of the coral reef.  The Parrot fish nibbles on the delightful pink coral, poops it out, and it washes up on the shore.  Nature is not always delicate in her methods, but the results are generally quite glorious.  There are a couple of local businesswomen who are making a killing on selling their pink sand jewellery.  Alexandra Mosher is the first pink sand jewellery I remember seeing, and her pieces are very popular.  I know my friend Tanya has taken home several pieces on her two visits to the island.

So how about the pink and pastel houses?  I am not sure where this tradition started, but it seems to be prevalent in the British colonies.  The houses are made of limestone, which was an abundant building material on the island.  In addition to being readily available, limestone is sturdy when the the hurricane winds blow through, and the stone is cool and helps for a more comfortable environment in the hot summer months.  It does keep some moisture in, which can make it a little chilly in the winters (central heating is virtually unheard of) and can encourage mould.  A friend of mine actually had mushrooms sprout out of the bathroom wall of her rental unit.  The damp is a problem for leather, and even cotton clothes -- one must keep the house aired out, use a dehumidifier, and not let clothes stand for too long in the dark end of the closet or you will see a dusting of mould on your clothes.  And tile is much preferred over carpet for this same reason.

My pastel view from home

No matter what color the walls, the houses all have a white roof.  Bermuda has no freshwater, and so rainwater is the source of drinking water, dishwater, bathwater, etc.  When it rains, the rain collects in the stepped grooves on the roof and runs down into a tank below the house (no basements in Bermuda either).  Legally, 80% of the roof must be guttered and a storage cistern that can hold 10 gallon of water for each square foot of roof.  The roof is treated with a lime, sand and water wash to help keep the roof and your water clean.  Your taps draw directly from you own tank.  If you use all of your water, your tap runs dry.  You can buy a truckload of water for several hundred dollars, althouh that is a finite resource as well.  So people conservse water quite well here.  Appliances are usually the most energy efficient and taps are not left running, lawns depend on the rain.  Incidentally power is extremely expensive as the source is crude oil shipped in from Great Britain, and ir is conserved almost as diligently as water.  When i first moved to the island my new boss told me that my hair and nails would grow faster as a result of the untreated and pure rainwater...I am not sure if it'sreally the clean air and rainwater, but he is absolutely correct, my hair is waist length now which i could never manage back home. 

Bermuda is definately "Pretty in pink" and quite often we are treated to a pink sunset on our pink paradise.

Pink House, Pink Sky

I cannot leave of this post without talking about the popularity of pink menswear on the island.  Back in North America we think of Bermuda shorts as brightly colored men's swimming trunks.  Bermuda shorts are anything but.  Authentic Bermuda shorts are acceptable business attire in Bermuda.  They go about 1 inch above the knee and include the high socks -- tube socks are not ever acceptable with Bermuda shorts -- and usually a nice shirt and jacket.  In Bermuda, the business men may be more colorful than the businesswomen!  So now you have a bit more of a visual idea of this colorful island, you should find it easier to Think Pink when you think of Bermuda.