Random Thoughts, Jewelry Edition

This might be a strange post, because it started with a strange thought... or at least a "random" one.  You know, one of those mental ramblings that drifts through your head while you're doing something mindless.  A from-nowhere thought, nothing useful about it, not all that worthy of a conversation and certainly not of a blog post.

Are you still reading?  Wow.  And just when I was feeling like one of those TV commercials that tells you much more about why you shouldn't use a medication than why you should. 

My random thought:  there are ideas and styles that come and go with no one remembering they ever existed.  It occurred to me that we who meet up here once in awhile are of varying ages and we live in different lands; so we've seen, among us, quite a number of things pop in and out of public awareness. Some were and are quite serious.  It struck me that we might be able to share memories of these once in awhile.

But for now, I have my mind on frivolities.  Really dumb ones, actually, but I think a bit of lightheartedness is good for the soul, and frankly, my soul could use that right about now.  Anyone else feel like a round of light blogversation while the world throws more craziness at us every day?

This is the "jewelry edition" of this nonsense, so DOES ANYONE REMEMBER...
Mood rings?  Spoon rings?  Friendship rings?
Little pins shaped like mice, made of mink?  Popular worn up on the shoulder, often.
Pre-engagement rings with teensy chips of diamond?
Bracelets that held little book-shaped rosary cases, in which there were tiny rosaries?
Boys' I.D. bracelets that opened to hold things?
Strands of pearls worn with sweaters and skirts to classes in high school or University?  I can just imagine someone asking "skirts?? To CLASSES??"  Yes.  And sometimes with pearls.  And yes, I am actually that old.

I suppose jewelry tells us something about who we are as a society (as do lots of other things, but those are for another "random post").   

"A pearl will shine in the midst of squalor, and a gem of the first water will sparkle in the mire."  (St. Jerome)

"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant's search for fine pearls.  When he found one really valuable pearl, he went back and put up for sale all he had and bought it."  (Matthew 13:45-46)

Painting:  William McGregor Paxton, The String of Pearls, in US public domain

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