A discarded piece of glass or a shiny and treasured piece of jewelry?

An old scrap of fabric or a rare, vintage swath with which to reupholster?

A used can ready to be recycled or a shiny medium with which to up-cycle?

It’s all about perspective. As we welcome a new year, we traditionally look to make big changes and start anew. Maybe we need to take it easy on ourselves and focus on the good that we already have in place. Making plans and setting goals to tweak, or appreciate and accept, the finer points.

This river town is not short on amazing vista views. From atop the ridges, one gains an eagle’s eye view of the town, forest, river, and trail below and it is breathtaking. Some of my favorite finds, though, have occurred while traipsing around at lower altitudes. They are little pieces of history that have been tumbling through the clear spring water for the better part of a century. When I find a mid-century, triangular remnant of a once-refreshing Coca-Cola, I come to fully understand the meaning of “glasses that are coke bottle thick”. The hues are different from the increasingly rare and much thinner glass we know today. I pluck them from the clean, swiftly flowing, icy water. I am unable to leave them be. Once home, I reach into my pockets and drop them into an old blue Ball jar resting on a shelf in my kitchen. A jar fully intact and in contrast to the many blue pieces it holds.

Once dingy and sometimes jagged, with a little polishing, they gleam with a new purpose. I am struck by how this is true of many of life’s haggard details.

Happy New Year.

This blog was written by guest blogger Dana Weber.

Visit her blog, “Life of Riley: Living the Good Life in Emlenton, PA”