“Do you like them?” Kevin asked his date, Annette, when he opened a cabinet and slowly pulled out a draw filled with insects laid out on a felt board. “I use these to make pins, earrings, broaches, bracelets, rings, and even necklaces.”
“They’re beautiful,” Annette said.
“I made them all by hand,” Kevin said proudly.
“That’s impressive,” Annette said. “What are they made of?”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked her.
“Are they made out of plastic? Metal? Wood?” Annette asked.
Kevin laughed. “No, of course not. They are actual insects that I caught, dipped them live into epoxy and cured them in a special kiln I created. Finally, to give them their sheen, I put a thin coat of polyurethane on them. That brings out the brilliant colors.”
Annette excused herself, ran to Kevin’s bathroom, and threw up.
My post today in response to Linda’s prompt is not a piece of flash fiction or an opinion piece. It’s a true stream of conscious post about a few different rings: a camera, a phone call, a piece of jewelry, a fantasy trilogy, tinnitus, and a song. The only item in common is the word “ring.” So let us begin.
Camera
I have a Ring camera, like the one pictured above, mounted on my garage. it allows me to capture video images on my iPhone of my driveway and a portion of my front yard (see below).
I also have a doorbell camera, but it’s a Nest camera, not a Ring camera. Between the Ring and Nest cameras, I can see anything going on around my house and capture videos of any activity.
Phone
My iPhone displays the phone number of every caller, and if it’s a number I don’t recognize, I let it ring. I figure that if it’s a legit call from someone I know, but whose number I don’t immediately recognize, the caller will leave a voicemail message. Do you also do that?
Jewelry
When it comes to jewelry, the only ring I wear is my wedding band. I’m not one to adorn myself with metal, like nose rings or earrings, or any other kinds of rings other than my aforementioned wedding ring.
Trilogy
Back when I was in college, I was really into Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I had a map of Middle Earth on my wall above my bed. So yeah, I was a bit of a nerd.
Tinnitus
No post about the word ring would be complete if if didn’t touch upon the constant ringing I experience in both ears, which condition goes by the name tinnitus. There’s no known cure for tinnitus and no specific cause for the ringing sound that only I can hear, although I believe it might be due to having attended so many loud rock concerts in my twenties and thirties. When I asked a doctor many years ago what could be done about the ringing in my ears, his response was, “Learn to live with it.” Thanks for nothing, Doc.
Song
Do you remember Gary Lewis and the Playboys 1965 song, “This Diamond Ring”? Well, let me refresh your memory.
By the way, in case, when you watched this video, you didn’t notice a resemblance, Gary Lewis is the son of the late comedian and actor Jerry Lewis. Are you old enough so that name rings a bell for you?
For this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt from Linda G. Hill, she’s given us the word “ring” and asked us to use it as a noun, a verb, an adverb, or an adjective…or basically any way we’d like.
The word “ring” is a very versatile word. I always found it interesting that Americans typically say they will call someone on the phone, while the British say that they will ring someone up.
A ring is also something that can be worn on fingers, like a friendship ring, an engagement ring, a wedding wing (or band), or just a ring as a piece of jewelry. Some ring wearers even pierce their noses or lips or eyebrows or, well, certain other body parts in order to insert a ring in them.
Boxers and wrestlers fight in a ring, but ice skaters and roller skaters skate in a rink. Why is that, I wonder?
Pandas and Raccoons have dark rings around their eyes. So do I when I don’t get enough sleep.
While some policemen were forming a large ring around demonstrators, other policeman were in hot pursuit of the members of a drug ring.
And, of course, you can always ring a bell. A church bell. A Christmas bell. A cowbell. A doorbell.
I’m sure you’ve heard that the old nursery rhyme, “Ring Around the Rosie,” arose from the Great Plague, an outbreak of pneumonic plague that affected London in the year 1665. However, according to the fact-checking site, Snopes, “Ring Around the Rosie” is simply a nursery rhyme of indefinite origin with no specific meaning. Apparently, long after the nursery rhyme had been around, someone, concocted the plague-related “origin story” for its creation.
By the way, won’t you be glad when 2020 will finally be over and we can ring in the new year, 2021, which we all hope will be much better than 2020, right?
And with that, friends, I think I’m going to start re-reading “The Lord of the Rings.” It’s been a few decades since I last read about the epic quest for the ring.
For this week’s 
This, That, and the Other 