Tales From The New World # 13

June 30, 2023 by matthew pace photographer

Lucky Charms,Talismans, Religious Icons

A recent visit brought me to this door.

When I was a kid, it was considered lucky to have a rabbit’s foot keychain. Maybe not so lucky for poor rabbit but certainly lucky for the business that produced it. They came in many colors but Mine was white or au natural, nails included. If you rubbed it, luck would be had, although it didn’t help my love life. Maybe I was rubbing the wrong thing.

A friend of mine had a “ Lucky Buddha ” where if you rubbed his belly clockwise luck and happiness would come your way. If only that was all it took, but I’ve seen this statue many time over. Chinese restaurants have a waving cat, sure you’ve seen it and it’s not a clock. Finding a penny heads up brings you luck too.

I went to Catholic school and as you see here, they never run out of things and artifacts to host in good fortune, answer prayers, watch over you and sometimes even act as proxy for something to pray to…Statues, pictures, beads, even water.The list of things goes on and on all the way back to when men worshiped the sun and carried a spiritual animal tooth necklace.The only power they have is the power we give them and that in itself is a little sad.

They say you make your own luck in life. I guess some of us need to reach elsewhere for a little help, from items endowed with supernatural powers, even if those items were made in China.

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Tales From the New World #12

June 25, 2023 by matthew pace photographer

Sandwiches

Sometimes the Universe tries to tell us something:

As I entered the store and received a greeting in group harmony as I walked in…” Welcome to (name withheld) “ .

Approaching the counter, I looked at the elderly woman and said
” Thanks, how are you?”
She replied…” Living the dream.”

As she continued making sandwiches, it left me to wonder, what was the dream? It couldn’t have been this job, everyone else went back to grumbling after singing out their robotic “welcome ”.
Despite them, she seemed happy, smiling as she slapped down more ham on her piece de resistance. I tried to envision what it could have been, was she the owner, or someone just happy to be able to make a few bucks, or just have something to do? …

It got me thinking. Life is an ongoing collection of dreams. Some we achieve, some we can achieve, some we don’t. We all have them. They become the anesthetic to the mundane. They pop up throughout life sometimes changing along the way with some alterations. For some they’re daydreams, for others fantasies, for most… goals.

We all need dreams in life to help making sandwiches a little more tolerable. I’ll have mustard and mayo on mine.