Writing my way through the A-to-Z blogging challenge, I’ve tasked myself with leading you on a meandering tour of the virtual garden of delights and curiosities and thoughts that make up my world – all through the lens of unusual, obscure, or simply charming-to-me words.
T is for…
trangam: (noun) an odd gaget; gewgaw; trinket
I’m attracted to odd things, and I suppose the attraction is mutual as they often find their way to me. I’m going to make this post a bit of a show-and-tell, and select a few trangams that delight me. Technically I’m not limiting myself to “gadgets” but all of these things likely fit the definition of gewgaw (bonus fabulous word!) which is often defined as “a showy thing, especially one that is useless or worthless.”
Spirals are clearly up for exploring in my world at the moment. And of course in those synchronistic ways the universe says “yes, I’ll play along with you in the most delightful ways,” spirals have been showing up for me all week. Love that! This one, however, has been in my world for some time now. I have no clue what it actually is. It’s old and rusted which I find all the more endearing, and while I don’t know it’s true function, I’m convinced it was quite important. A piece perhaps of some magical machine. After years of hard work, it’s retired and taking up residence with me where it can lead a life of being admired and wondered about. If anyone has an idea of what this is, or even a fanciful speculation, please do let me know. Curious minds want to know.
This is a vintage (patent 1936) tool once used by astrologers.
Can you guess what this is?
While sometimes I look at it and think it might be the worn sandals of some wee folk, it’s actually a fossilized buffalo tooth. I find teeth particularly fascinating. I have a history of challenging dental issues partly attributable to genetics, partly to neglectful care when I was younger, and probably a good portion due simply to the way the dice fell. But it still makes me smile to see this vintage WPA poster.
This is a cross-sectional slice of some herb. A friend purchased for me from a Chinese apothecary attached to an acupuncture clinic she had visited. She said she saw it and simply knew it had to come to me. She was unsure what herb it was, and though I’ve researched it for years, I’ve never been able to identify it either. But I wire-wrapped it, and often wear it – isn’t it fabulous?
This one makes me smile every time I see it. It’s a brooch made from the discarded lens of a pair of glasses, and a wonderful example of reverse glass painting. It’s actually pretty heavy to wear, so needs to be pinned on something sturdy. These days I mostly keep it pinned on a hanging cloth runner and drape a few necklaces from it. I like to thing the necklaces are received in the spirit of offerings, and are also well-guarded.
I consider this a fabulous treasure – it’s a Carrier Shell. During its life the creature gathers bits, shells, coral, stones, and “glues” them to its own shell.
I love this on so many levels. As a gatherer and collector myself, I know the thrill of gathering and the beauty I see in my collections. But I also hear the message that balance is important. Too much of anything is as just problematic and challenging as not having enough. I’ve come to know over the years how truly important it is to me to only have those things that bring me joy and happiness. I keep the shell on one of my altars, and use it to ponder frequently, what am I carrying?
So there you have it – a peek at a few of my trangams. Do you have a penchant for odd things? Is something showing up for you, like spirals are for me? Do you think about what you’re carrying? Do tell – you know I love to hear,
I thought it was Tangram! Pretty strange objects here, I love your cross-sectional slice, and this Carrier Shell is beautiful!
T is for Taupe
Tangram is a wonderful word as well. What’s not to like about ancient Chinese puzzles called “seven tricky pieces.” 🙂
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I love the collection. It’s fun to imagine what they were used for.
Hope you are having a great week!
Time
Thanks Leslie, and I hope the same for you!
Hari OM
A delightful array of the unusual and unknown, Deborah! I do love to look at such things, and at one time may have ‘gathered’, but am now inclined to leave them wherever found and just admire… YAM xx
Being such a good photographer, you can always take photos of your finds if you’re so inclined!
I, too, gather little tidbits of interesting things, although I don’t generally assign particular meaning to them, other than beauty and wonder. I have no idea what your first trangam is, but I like it! (I like your pointy-headed woman, too.)
Black and White (Words and Pictures)
Beauty and wonder are the best Anne – you’ll get no argument from me there.
What a lovely collection!! And I like the way you connect to and admire such antique pieces. There was a time when I had a big collection of shells. And seriously, I took the buffalo tooth as old sandals too.
It’s fun to peek into each other’s lives and see what we find interesting, isn’t it?! And I’m glad you saw the “sandals” too. 🙂
Deborah, I want to link this post of yours to one of my future posts, that is somewhat related to the admiration of old things. I just wanted to ask if you are fine with it. Can you please reply to me through email?
I’ve emailed you Navita.
That carrier shell is delightful! And it resonates with some of your other objects: something found, picked up, added to, transformed.
In my family we talk about ‘kickshaws’ – I’d always assumed that it was a nonsense word, but then I found it in Chaucer: it’s from the French ‘quelque chose’. And apparently there’s a sort of sweet with that name as well.
Kickshaws – what a wonderful word! It’s got delightful “mouth feel” as I like to say. And it makes me smile to think that might be actually quite literal given it’s second definition. I herebey declare it my new favorite of the day.
The buffalo tooth looked like a little hoof to me. I love seeing special things in other people’s homes and worlds. Such an eclectic collection!
Oh I do see the “hoofiness” of the tooth now. And I will refrain from any comments about hoof and mouth disease. No need to thank me. 🙂
I love how you see the world, Deborah. I think your tangram is a fancy radish peeler. I have no proof, but that’s my guess.
I have a thing for cheap watches from Wish. I know, I know. But I buy them and sometimes they even work – after they take 6 weeks to arrive!
Thrashers are showing up for me every time I look up into the yard lately.
I do think of what I carry around, but then lose it for a while. The stormtrooper I use in my blog photography, being the chief among them.
Why Eli, I believe you are on to something. From now on I’ll think of my spiral mystery object as a radish peeler. I happen to have a salt and pepper set that is a pair of radishes, so I’ll have to be careful to keep them clear of one another. 🙂
When something takes forever to arrive, I like imagining all the adventures it’s having in the mailstream. Think of how many folks are making wishes on those watches before they arrive.
I had to look up a photo of Trashers, and I’m not sure I’ve actually ever seen one. They apparently live in Illinois, but clearly not my neighborhood. My brother lives near a river that’s a major migratory path and has become an avid birdwatcher, so I’m betting he’s seen them. I read they’re great singers – I hope you’re being serenaded.
I’m not at all convinced you lose your stormtrooper Eli. I’m pretty sure he’s periodically off on missions, probably in other dimensions. 🙂
I love gewgaws also. Like somebody else said, I leave them where I found them but remember where they are when I want to go look at them. The cross-section of the root is interesting and it’s cool how you wrapped it.
I think I must be part crow or magpie – shiny little “treasures” call to me to be part of my nest. I’m fascinated by that cross-sectional slice and love imagining what the plant it belongs to looks like.
I have a small collection of trinkets in a little bag – pebbles, shells, coins, brooches, that I picked up on my various travels. I don’t even remember all of them… 🙂
The Multicolored Diary
Travel-acquired trinkets are fun. It makes me smile that you’ve traveled so much you’ve forgotten some of what you’ve collected. I imagine there are a lot of stories marking all those miles. 🙂
This post was a truck full of eye candy for me:)
Thank you.
The first picture (green spiral) reminded me of an incense we used to burn in India to ward off mosquitoes. It was called Kacchua Chchap (Tortoise Brand). Perhaps the shape was inspired by a Tortoise shell. It had a very peculiar smell but it did the trick. We had to stick the middle bit on to a tiny metal stand and light the end of the spiral. How odd, I never thought of it as unusual till today—as I write about it all these years later:)
I’m attracted to broken/chipped things–have a piece of a terracotta pot I spotted on the streets of Sienna and it has the word Sienna on it. It’s very dear to me.
From my treks, I have treasures like porcupine quills (saw a whole bunch of them lying–result of a porcupine duel that had taken place the previous night), bits of fallen bark of trees, feathers, fallen leaves and pebbles, of course.
The spiral incense sounds interesting, even if the scent is more repellent than beautiful.
What a serendipitous find – your Sienna bit! And the porcupine quill find is wonderful. I had a friend gift me a quill from an African porcupine, which is a much larger species that the ones we have here. I could hardly believe how large it is. I like looking for unusually shaped twigs when I walk, especially if they have a Y-shape or something odd that I can weave between. It’s so curious the things that attract us, but so wonderful.
As always, I wonder how you keep track of all your treasures!
It a curious thought to me that I wouldn’t keep track of them. I guess I think that if you delight in something, you should pay attention to it.