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Journal Entry -- July 3, 2015

A few weeks ago I began an interesting exercise – transcribing my stained, torn, and mildewed journals into electronic format and printing them onto fresh paper.  I’ve finished the transcribing and now need to have the journals bound.

I transcribed a total of four journals that covered my teenage years through the early 1980s. Some of the material holds promise for jumping-off points for new pieces. Some of the material is surprisingly good while some of it reflects the angst of a very young person.

The exercise helped me to slip back in time to bear witness to my life.  Even though the material is several years old it still evoked memories of the events that sparked the journal entries. Some of the writing exhumed painful memories as I tended to write when I was disturbed by events in my life.

My earliest work – Haiku poetry – is the purest of the pieces.  It captures a naïve simplicity not found in later passages.  My current writing style is still very similar to that included in the transcribed journals.

My descriptions are of my emotional intelligence at the time of writing as opposed to a literal description of my surroundings and the events that shaped my early life.  The writing is cryptic and disjointed and reflects the manner in which thoughts occur to me and are captured for future reflection.

References are made to dreams, colors, fears, joys, and life dancing gaily on the edge of the world.

July 3, 2015.  All rights reserved.

Lemon Dish

by Miriam E. Waters

I recently discovered that there is a piece of dinnerware devoted to the serving of lemon slices – a “Lemon Dish.”  I tried to research this odd little dish, but had no success in learning the origins or practices associated with the dish.

I searched an online auction site for antique or vintage pieces and discovered a wide variety of an item that I didn’t know existed.  I discovered a bevy of dishes made from china and glass.

The dishes were usually round with a hook that curled towards the center of the dish.  Some were gilded and many were hand decorated with delicate flowers.

It’s a quaint idea … reserving a special dish for such an unusual purpose.

I was thrilled a few days ago to find a heavy cut glass “Lemon Dish” for sale at a retirement village.  I arrived late in the day and found the little beauty overlooked and mixed in with a collection of other leftovers.  I asked the elderly woman selling the piece if she knew whether it was indeed a “Lemon Dish” and she admitted that she didn’t know.  I knew.  What else could it be?

I took my treasure home and hand-washed it.  Once cleaned, the little dish beamed with light refracting off its many cut surfaces.  I haven’t discovered a place for it yet, but I may have to begin collecting other “Lemon Dishes” to keep my beautiful oddity company.

November 11, 2014

Collections -- Button Jar

by Miriam E. Waters

Did your mother or grandmother keep a “button jar?”  It’s a place to store all those loose buttons that appear in the laundry, on the floor, or inherited from mother or grandmother … I suspect that the practice was in response to Depression-era frugality.  I find it interesting.

I have two “button jars.”  The first is actually a decorative box and a companion ceramic jar.  It holds all of those “extra” buttons that come with new clothes or all those buttons that have somehow liberated themselves from their clothing and wait in limbo to be reunited.  This is the more civilized of the two “jars” – I know where the buttons belong, but haven’t had a need to repair the offending article of clothing to repatriate the errant button.  

The second “jar” was until this morning an actual jar – a gallon blue plastic jar half-way full of buttons and other bits of stuff.  I don’t remember where the jar came from or its’ contents originated.  I contributed to the blue jar and filled it with the odds and ends of buttons collected by others.  I may have inherited some … others I picked up at garage sales and wherever … I have no memory of this, but there is the jar, so it must be true.

I like buttons … they come in a range of colors and shapes so they are useful when I want to add eyes or decorations to one of my projects.  I collect “blue jar” buttons because I never know when one might be needed.

The “blue jar” came out of storage this weekend after I picked up a small bag of buttons at a garage sale.  I sorted through the bag trying to find sets of matching buttons for future projects.   This sort of activity appeals to me in the same way that sorting coins, jigsaw puzzle pieces, and trading cards appeals to me.  I tied the sets of matching buttons together and set the “one-of-a-kind” buttons aside to be added to the “blue jar.”

I was in the mood to continue sorting and so after 30+ years decided it was time to take a look at what the “blue jar” held.  It was an interesting exercise. The majority of the buttons were white, but I also found many colored and metallic buttons in the stew.  I found bingo chips, snaps, buttons with angels on them, wooden buttons, wooden beads, and two ceramic beads – one with the letter “P” and one with the letter “I” … did they come from something useful or were they just leftovers?  “Pi” or something more pedestrian?  By far the most unusual and disturbing discovery was a tooth.  Creepy.

The “blue jar” buttons have a new home in a storage unit comprised of little bins (once meant for screws and hardware).  The bins are over-flowing and ready to be mined for future treasures to finish off one of my projects.  Perhaps I’ll tackle my “extra” button box and jar sometime before another 30 years passes.

June 16, 2014.  All Rights Reserved.

One Small Purchase

by Miriam E. Waters

I stopped at what was advertised as a "garage sale" on a roadside sign.  When I arrived at the address it was a "garage sale" slash "estate sale."   I looked through the detritus of an old woman's life.  I went into the house at the urging of an old man wearing a straw hat who was running the sale.  It was so damn depressing.  

There wasn't much left by 3:00 PM.  Her treasured wedding picture was still hanging on her bedroom wall in a very ornate silver frame.  How sad that no one apparently wanted it, not even the scavengers.  

I could imagine her in the house a month ago, never dreaming that strangers would be coming soon to paw through her belongings.

I made a small purchase for no reason other than I felt like I needed to acknowledge that the woman's life was important. I purchased a vintage Pyrex glass ring mold.  

I wondered what colorful and toothsome treats were made by this faceless woman using the mold to bring joy to her holiday guests. A vintage cookbook contains the perfect dish for introducing this mold into my holiday feasts ,,, "Cranberry Cream Molded Salad.." Pass the cranberries, please.