Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes


While wondering through a shop in New Orleans, I was reminded of my first glimpse inside a kaleidoscope. It was a birthday gift from my grandparents, just an inexpensive little thing, nothing like those I saw in the shop, but I still recall turning it over and over, watching those colored chips fall into pattern after pattern, a stained glass window in slow motion.

The shop in New Orleans was a kaleidoscope lovers paradise. They sat atop glass shelves and across the counters in every possible type of wood and in a variety of metals. They each had their own stand to cradle them, and each one I held to my eye offered something unique, with different configurations and varieties of colors.

I didn't go home with a kaleidoscope that day. Instead, I came home and bought one for myself and one for each of my sons, made of cheap cardboard, much like the one I had as a child. So much potential for beauty inside a small cardboard cylinder filled with tiny bits of colored glass.

This song popped into my head today so I went on a search and came across the most perfect video, which conjured up my love of kaleidoscopes. I think it's time for a bit of happiness:












18 comments:

  1. I love kaleidoscopes! I have several and I still pull them out and look through them into enchantment.

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    1. I've long wanted to collect them. "Into enchantment," is right. Thanks, Galen.

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  2. Very refreshing video you found! Gosh, I haven't seen a kaleidoscope in years!

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  3. I have had fun with the real fancy ones, but they always take me back to the cardboard ones we had as kiids.Lovely tune, a fun version of happiness.

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    1. Hi Steve! It's the simplicity of the cardboard ones of our youth that make them even more spellbinding. Good to see you.

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  4. Would you believe it if I told you I was just playing with some cardboard kaleidoscopes yesterday, wondering if our Kezzie was old enough for one, but, mostly (if I am honest) because i wanted to see the colors and patterns myself? I think I just talked myself into getting her one. Oh, Teresa, how happy you have made me!

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    1. I would most definitely believe it. It seems we are riding along on the same stretch of river.... And you have made me happy, just when I needed to smile! Thank you, Penny!

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  5. As far as I remember, they're being "cheap" only added to their value - as usual, a lovely post!

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    1. I think so, too, t. Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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  6. "Picture yourself in a boat on a river/With tangerine trees and marmalade skies/Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly/A girl with kaleidoscope eyes ..." Beautiful post ...

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    1. Thank you, Cletis....

      "the girl with the sun in her eyes...."

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  7. I have three kaleidoscopes, none of them terribly expensive. ViMae is fascinated with each of them, which makes me very happy. I love the video.... This kind of computer art is the perfect companion to the kaleidoscope. Happy Thanksgiving, Teresa.

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  8. They're great stocking stuffers, for my kids and my grandkids.

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    1. Yes, they are. Happy Thanksgiving, Linda. Stay Warm. :)

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  9. There is a shop in Bailey's Harbor, Door County, Wi that has a shop that has the most remarkable kaleidoscopes that I have ever seen anywhere. I am STILL enamored of them! May you have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving Day!

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    1. isn't it fun, when we have these great memories engraved in our minds?

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