Happy 2016, fishy friends! Welcome to the New Year, the lagoon and to this month’s blog theme: Find something of meaning with history that describes/embodies/personifies you to a tee.

(Thank you, Alethea Mermaid, for the thought-provoking prompt!)

So… Here I’ve been searching my house the past two days for something that fits the bill. It’s not been easy! Simply put, I’m a girl of few possessions.

The things I treasure, I often pack up and stick in my car. Her name is Fancy, my car, because she was the most stripped down model of Honda I could afford but she may as well be a billion dollar spaceship to me and I’d never want her to feel anything less than that. The places we have gone, the things we have seen…

At any given moment, Fancy’s trunk might be carrying around such precious cargo as my telescope whose name is Vera. Vera because in Spanish, it means “he or she will see”. I earned Vera by helping a writing friend of mine with their book and I’m very proud of that. Bonus points for how cool it was that my friend happened to have read my bio and noted my affinity for stargazing. Surprise!

Let’s see, there’s also a box of my published books. With it being the New Year and all, I’d like to speak it into existence that someday soon, those books will go from Fancy’s fabulous trunk and into the hands of readers.

Like flesh and bone girls, Fancy isn’t just about the fun in her trunk…

There are the scratch marks covering the front interior from where I stuffed chain-link building materials inside her, convinced I was going to erect my own fence. Hey, in my defense, I’d just repaired a big hole in one of the house walls and was feeling pretty ambitious.

There’s this man-boy I transport around. The orange, melted-crayon stains on the backseat are his work of art but lately, he graces Fancy with Nay-Nay whipping, a smelly singlet and a very heavy backpack. For the record, he’s responsible for my most favorite stains.

Sand. There will always be sand. Everywhere.

Um, and air fresheners because I might have a very sensitive tummy. Yes, I just said that. Oh my goodness … and I totally could have blamed it all on man-boy’s smelly singlet! Zoinks. (Mermaid blushing…)

Essentially, that’s us. Fancy and me. Partners for as long as she’ll have me. Ready to hit the road, see new places and experience new adventures.

Maybe one of these days, she’ll lead me on a road to you, fishy friends.

I wish you all a wonderful 2016 and encourage you to take some time to enjoy being outside. Who knows what you might find out there. And I’d love to hear something you hold dear that simply says, “You”.

Xoxo,

Carlene Mermaid