Did you ever do the color chart that tells you whether you’re a summer, winter, spring or autumn? I am a winter, apparently, because those colors listed under the winter chart are what look best on me, according to the friends who attended a little party I had decades ago. Orange was definitely NOT on my color list, and I was never a fan of orange. That color works beautifully for autumn redheads–also flowers, fruit, and certain cats.

Recently, however, I have developed a new love for orange, red-orange, tangerine, or even bright yellow—which all look hideous on me if I try to wear those colors. Mel has a bad tendency to disappear in large crowds shopping, and we now live in the 5th largest city in the U.S. We found that if he wore very bright colors, he was much easier to spot. Yes, I know, I could call, but he also has a bad tendency to forget to turn his phone back on.

Mel is definitely not a winter, either.

But the main reason I now love those colors is because of an auto accident in which I was badly injured when we were rear-ended by someone driving at high speed. She apparently didn’t see us stopped in front of her for an accident ahead of us, and she plowed into us without touching her brakes. We were driving a silver car that blended in with the road in the rain. Our car was totaled. The replacement we purchased was bright red.

Tastes change for different reasons. I like colors that stand out because they mean safety to me. Have your tastes changed over the past years or decades? What do you do differently now that you never did when you were younger? And why?