Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Succinctly Yours Week 214: Modern Marvel

I’m time again for Succinctly Yours, a delightful meme offered thanks to the hard work of Grandma’s Goulash. Each week, Grandma thoughtfully produces a photo for us so that we can work out a story of 140 words or 140 characters or fewer to go with it. The bonus word this week was “churn.”


The World’s Worst Businessman award goes to Almias Hobbs, who, in the 1970s, built a large, modern office building and factory designed to churn out…butter churns.   137

The only factory in the depressed area was also considered its most modern building. Folks there felt pretty fancy churning out a living like peasants under glass.   137



It’s the Joshua tree’s struggle that gives it its beauty. ~Jeanette Wells, The Glass Castle

16 comments:

  1. Hari OM
    Nicely done on both counts! - I was under the hammer this week so skipping this one - back on track next time round.... YAM xx

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  2. Missed you this week, but hope the hammer lifts quickly. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  3. You certainly do have a way with words, oh witty one.

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  4. "... like peasants under glass." I hope these take you at least a little time to craft, Tammy. I'd hate to think this much cleverness comes without some effort. ;)

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    1. You're too generous. Seriously, though, these encourage me because I write down the first thing that pops into my head when I look at the picture, and it's always very stupid. But then I let it marinate. It's a great lesson for me.

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  5. You are so clever. All I see here is the Petticoat Junction water tower, and a Rorschach ink blot.

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    1. Yes - what the heck is that Rorschach thing? Dead worms, maybe? ;)

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  6. You always nail these. I'm impressed every time. Also, adored the sweet picture of your Great Gatsby. What a precious.

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    1. Thanks, Lynn! I appreciate your mentioning that picture because it's one of my favorites. He was really weird about having his picture taken at first, but by that point he had come around so much, he'd actually started posing!

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  7. Oh yes, my vote is for #2!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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  8. Love them both, of course! Do you get extra points for using "churn" twice in the first one ;) And I love the quote -- how true it is, too.

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    1. Theresa, I was wondering the same thing. I think I should definitely get extra points. And prizes! Monetary ones! LOL. Isn't that a great quote? I picked that book up at work and had a hard time putting it down. Now it's next on my list.

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  9. I have fond memories of churning butter at my grandparent's home. Nothing you buy in the store tastes nearly as good. I think that businessman needed a better marketing plan, I googled butter churns and was shocked at the current prices.

    Still chuckling over "peasant under glass". You are too clever.

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    1. Well of course you made me want to google butter churns...whoa! At first I saw a modern butter maker that wasn't too bad, but it turned out to be a glass jar that you shake a lot. Reminded me of the butter my children brought home from preschool that they'd made by shaking a baby food jar full of cream.

      Thanks for the visit and the comment!

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