Wednesday, July 11

A different perspective.

I find I can get caught off guard, when confronted with everyday items in odd or unusual places. I dont seem to have a process whereby I can work out what the heck the object is or is part of.

Photographs of objects taken out of context, or out of sight of the whole object, get me every time. I am no good at those guessing games, "What is the mystery object?"

This little item, horrified my Granddaughter this morning. She looked at it, & kept say "EWW!"
Showing her the second view didnt really help either. It still looked "Ewww!"
No prizes for guessing. I will just leave it to your imagination. I am sure you will all have a better idea at working it out than perhaps I would.
I have never kept a regular diary or journal. When I was a teenager I had diaries that I kept intermittently. I would find whole weeks would go by, & I would not give a thought to writing in the diary. And then when I did remember, I would not have clue as to what had happened in the missing time spaces.
As an adult I have also had intermittent diaries. Re reading them has not always been a great idea. Some years, have been years from hell. It has seemed throughout my life that the bad patches have come in waves. Sometimes the bad parts have been veritable tsunamis of cr@p! Health, illfortune, mishaps, disasters for children. Wave after wave, until it seems there have never been any good times.
I used to write regular letters to my mother, since we lived so far apart. My mother kept a lot of those letters, & it was like reading my life, when I reread them after my mother had died. I still havent thrown them away. But I will.
My Aunt told my brother that she had kept all the letters she had received from our Uncle, while he was a prisoner of war. And he had kept all her letters to him. And, it is now 12 years since our Uncle died. Recently, our Aunt said, she had destroyed all the letters.
My brother was horrified, & told her she was a naughty woman. But I sympathise with her, & know how she feels. As she said, they were nobody's business but hers, & her husband. Which is how I would feel. I would not like any one to find my diaries & read them. I would not like letters I wrote to someone in a very personal vein to be available for public reading.
I can see my brother's point of view also. There have been a lot of historical letters which have been made available for public reading, well after the person or persons concerned, have died. I am sure some people have no thought of anyone reading their letters after they have died, & wouldnt be concerned at the thought that someone might, one day read them.
I know our mother had letters our father had written to her, while he was away overseas during the war. She must have destroyed those, as there were none among her things after she died. I dont blame her.
As a record of people's lives, letters can be very revealing. As diaries can be. But would you want someone reading your innermost thoughts or feelings. I wonder.
And here are our two woolly 'babies'. Snuggled up on GOM. He is not really asleep, just pretending to be. It is another cold day here, though at least it is not raining, & there is a bit of sun struggling against the chill winds that are blowing.
Neil Finn, Secret God.


17 comments:

Tanya Brown said...

I'm giggling at the "eww" picture. I haven't a blessed idea what it might be - the left ventricle of a candy snowman's heart, maybe?

Your comments re: diaries were thought-provoking. Like you, I can see both points of view about destroying letters and diaries.

Your dogs are doing a good job at keeping your husband from purging the kitchen cupboards again, I see. They deserve something extra special for dinner.

fifi said...

I am guessing some kind of crocheted horror like a christmas outfit for a sausage dog!

I sometimes wish I had kept diaries that I have destroyed, butthey always seemed to be open to prying and poking and were often hunted out and read.
I can still remeber the good bits though!

stay warm!

Lucy said...

Is it a cake?
It's not only the breach of privacy that might take place (I don't keep many diaries, but in terms of other things precious to me...), it's the idea that what's precious to me will eventually mean nothing to anyone, so will just be an encumbrance which they'll have to make the decision about what to do with. My memories of trawling through my Mum's stuff, before and after she died - she moved on quite a bit and my brother and I always had to sort out her stuff, hundreds of small decisions to make, heartbreak, depression, boredom - make me feel I'd rather take the decision now to dispose of something, even if I regret it, than let it all pile up and atrophy, and travel relatively light through life.

Aunty Evil said...

looks like my bum, just depends on which direction I look at it from. :)

meggie said...

My Granddaughter thought it may be a brain, Yuk!
It is nothing crocheted, & is not really as hideous as it appears.. I might keep you guessing until tomorrow.
And yes, Tanya, you are soooo right! anything that keeps him out of the cupboards is just a bonus!
Lucy, a cake is not near reality.
Aunty, I had the same thought, but mine is not so coloured!! hehe.

Anonymous said...

Christmas Nut Bowl or something similar ? Something Xmassy anyway ?
Love Aunty Evils guess !

Joyce said...

Maybe somebody's seriously ill tongue? I just helped my sister clean out Dad's house and I am all in favour of purging now and then rather than leaving it all for my kids to do.

Ragged Roses said...

I have some of my mother's letters in the attic and although I never read them (It still upsets me seeing her handwriting) it is a great comfort to me knowing that they are there - would never part with them. Haven't a clue what your photos are - something brainlike with buttons? Thanks for tagging me - I have been tagged quite a lot recently and have quite a list building up, I hope I get round to it!!!
Kim x

Suse said...

Every now and then I wake up at 3am and think how I should burn all my teenage and early 20s diaries, in case I get hit by a bus next week.

I never get around to it though and I just KNOW that on my deathbed I'll be frantically clawing my way out of the room to grab them and hurl them into the fire.

Unknown said...

This one is tricky could it be a cookie? I would like to read the book your GOM has!

Birdydownunder said...

I think it is a bowl or a vase, possibly the 1950's vintage. As regards diaries I find I write more when troubled.

mereth said...

I'll go for a hunk of spleen, studded with Smarties. I bet I'm right.
NO!!!! don't destroy your diaries or letters. It seems such a waste, and who are we to decide what will interest the next generation? I suppose if it was really personal it might make you feel uncomfortable, but it might be a great grandchild who takes comfort from your words, or knows you suddenly as a real person instead of a photo. I treasure all the documentation I have of our family history.

ancient one said...

I cannot guess what the item is in your picture.

As for the letters and diaries, I can see both sides. I once went through a long period of depression. During that time, I could not remember any good thing, just the bad things that had happened to me in my life. I was told that if I wrote it down it would help me. So I filled up a composition book. After, I was better and read what I had written, I was so embarrassed. I shreaded all of it. Now when I write, I concentrate on good things, or funny things. I wasted too much of my life in depression. God is good He brought me out of that.

molly said...

I've been lugging a box of letters around the world for the last 30+ years. With the intention of "someday" reading through them for mention of memories long forgotten. I know I'll be embarrassed if I ever get around to it. We were so young and gauche and naive. Like Suse, I fear I'll be frantic on my deathbed at the thought of my children reading them. Oh God! I'd better go put a match to that box right now.....back in a jiffy.

Quilting Kim said...

Hmmm...Ewww looks like a smooshed up fruit roll-up and studded with candies or cereal. Where you going to feed this to granddaughter?

Love the photo of GOM "just resting his eyes" with the pups while they look so wide awake.

Jellyhead said...

I can't guess the mystery item but it looks like some sort of lolly? No idea.

I must be a 'keeper' (what a lovely euphemism I have used instead of 'hoarder'!) because the idea of someone burning letters from a loved one makes me feel really stressed. I have burnt letters from previous boyfriends, but would never burn the letters from my husband, at least I don't think I would. I suppose if he ran off with my best friend or something I might set a match to them!

meggie said...

I know I am just a hoarder really, but I have a letter I kept from my father, who is dead, a letter I kept from my stepdaughter who died when she was 16, & a letter my beloved Grandmother wrote me once. I have a lot of letters from other people who have since died, & I just cant bring myself to throw them away, or burn them.
But my Mum had carefully cleaned up all her papers & things, so when she died there were no huge piles for us to sort out.
I just dont think I will keep the letters I wrote to my mother, although when I re read them, they sound quite happy, & usually i have a laugh to share.