Not as vivid as some, but you can at least get a hint of the variation possible.

They’re in full bloom as I write this. Bushes three feet high or so, with huge clusters of bright pink or vivid blue flowers – with every shade in between (even a sort of pale yellow green at times). Sometimes even on the same bush. I don’t know why – probably something to do with a genetic quirk in the plant coupled with some soil chemistry. I could look it up, but seeing them has sent my thoughts in another direction.

Traditionally (at least in the US), light blue / sky blue / powder blue has been used to designate a boy at a birth celebration. Pink has been used to denote a girl. If you follow the news as much as I do, you cannot help but notice that there’s a lot of stuff about people who don’t exactly fit into the normal “boy/male” or “girl/female” boxes. Instead of Blue or Pink, they’re purple.

When we see the varied colors of hydrangea blossoms, we don’t consider them to be different plants, do we. So why shouldn’t we do the same with all the variations in people? Why waste the effort to force them into just one or two “colors”, when the variety is much nicer – and more natural?