In the red

“ ‘In the red’ frequently means financial loss, the color of the ink used to record the loss being used to indicate the loss itself. Then again, red is also associated with blood; and so through ferocious battles rivers of red routinely flow. Red is the color of the Russian flag, and hence a country can endure a red scare, or be subverted by reds. Red is a distinctive human hair color, and those who have it are often known by it. It is also the distinctive pigment in the plumage of Rhode Island chickens and Cincinnati baseball players. And when we get very angry, it is all that we see. On the other hand, we sometimes see nothing clearly after eating a bowl of red, on account of the tears the chili provokes. This string of reds could be continued indefinitely. . . . But we should probably stop before we see red sails in the sunset or scarlet women in the pink.”