SoCS: Calling Collect, Sea Shells, and Spirals

May 29, 2021 by JoAnna 25 Comments

Today’s SoCS prompt is the word, “collect.”

Back in the olden days we could make a collect call – long distance – which meant that the person receiving the call could accept or decline to pay the charges. This came in handy if you were calling from a phone booth or didn’t want to pay, or couldn’t, pay the charges. Local calls didn’t have an extra charge. If you were calling collect, you had to go through the operator who would ask the person being called: “I have a collect call from John Doe, will you accept the charges?” The person could then decide to accept the call or not. I guess some things are simpler these days, though most are more complicated.

Some things I used to collect as a child and adolescent were sea shells, rocks, records, books… I still have a lot of books, and a small collection of rabbits (not real ones) and snow globes. I also collect dust and cat hair, though that is not intentional. My mother collected angel figurines which I have inherited. Dad collected coins which I gave to my son. My x husband collected comic books. I think he cashed one in for a lot of money which was always the plan. My current husband has a lot of books, but so do I. And sea shells, I still have a lot of sea shells. And bottle caps, plastic ones, of a some day art mosaic. I probably have, oh, I don’t know, at least a couple hundred plastic bottle caps. Maybe I’ll make an mermaid, though something abstract – a spiral would be fun, too.

I like spirals and used to want a spiral staircase. Now, I think it might be too much work, and a little risky, but pretty. Fractals are cool, too. Repeated patterns, I think that’s what they are, but in a geometric design. Spirals and fractals are common in nature. Someone out there knows more than I do about their energy.

This window is somewhere in Texas:

A few of my favorite shells

Hey! I just realized that the telephone chord we used to have connected to the receiver was a spiral! In the beginning days they were only a few feet long. It was exciting when we got one that reached from the kitchen to the dining room! Who remembers talking on the phone and twisting the cord with your finger?

An old telephone from pixabay

1957: Should I accept this collect call?

You can read all about Stream of Consciousness Saturday

and find a collection of streams at the blog of our host, Linda HIll:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS May 29, 2021 | (lindaghill.com)