Gray is basically a useless, dull color to me. Can you convince me otherwise?

On a gray day, with gray skies, a gray outlook on the world and a gray mustache on my face, I’m looking for a rainbow.

Maybe it’s my 8-month-old granddaughter, Isabella, who is here today. Usually a ray of sunshine, she is grouchily fighting against a nap. But she still is a delight although a little gray herself today.

Maybe it’s the fact I am still alive, although there are gray clouds on that horizon. But as the Grateful Dead noted, “a touch of gray kind of suits you anyway.” And I’m not about to use A Touch of Gray to cover up anything.

Maybe it’s the fact that when this runs it will be the 46th wedding anniversary for my wife and I. Although we are graying together, there is still a lot color left.

Maybe the most depressing thing about gray is its wishy-washyness. It’s not black, it’s not white. It can’t seem to make up its mind so it compromises on dullness.

Then it confounds me that so many new shades of gray keep appearing on new cars. Can’t anybody make a better color decision? I mean, I had a gray car and to make it seem better, I called it silver. But the new names which often feature slate and lead, aren’t exciting no matter how they try to disguise them with colorful adjectives.

Gray has quickly vaulted to the top of the popularity list of car colors — behind white — which is something else to think about.

Gray also is shooting to the top of the list of vehicles most frequently involved in accidents. You drive a car which is the same color as the road you’re on and you’re hard to see. What a surprise.

When I see a dull gray vehicle, I can’t help but think about the gray Southwestern Bell phone company trucks they had back when I was growing up.

It’s my own fault that I have such a gray outlook. I’m even wearing a gray shirt as I write. But at least my shorts are red and my sneakers are blue.

Maybe there is some color left in me yet.