Nangle Natters: Trumpet triumphs

Sometimes a raspberry just has to be blown. Apropos of nothing, simply to break the silence, to change the mood, or even just to get that fab buzzing vibrating feeling in your lips that’s a bit like eating sherbert slowly but with less calories. A mouth trumpet prevails every time.

I’m a great advocate for a sudden change in… well, something, when the brain gets congested I get stuck in a rut.

The first time I remember consciously doing something like this was back at school when I was working on an art project. I was just working and working on the same picture and it was as if it was losing all meaning and definition the more I stared at it. So I turned it upside down on the easel, walked to the other side of the room and turned around quickly so that I could see it out of the corner of my eye. Elaborately constructed, I agree, but it worked and I could vaguely look at what I was working on with fresh eyes.

I’ve shaken the Etch-A-Sketch of my stuck imagination

My current version of this is a wig that’s been knocking around the office. It’s an ‘old lady’ wig, no glam whatsoever, simply big curls of salt and pepper hair that pulls down easily over my ears. If the words and ideas aren’t coming on goes the wig – and my perspective changes as I squint through the cheaply cut fringe. It takes me out of my quagmire and into another frivolous world, like I’ve shaken the Etch-A-Sketch of my stuck imagination and freed it up to think of something new.

But clearly I’m not going to go around with a wig in my bag, just in case conversation runs dry or my brain freezes. Hence the usefulness of the raspberry. Ever-portable, suitable for most ages, and there’s even a PG-13 version I can use with my nieces and nephews – blowing at each other in the face. Yes, it’s not the best idea when someone has cold germs, but the simplest way to have an instant play fight without worrying about everyone getting too overexcited and the littlest ones ending up in tears (or the biggest one at the chiropractor!).

So raspberries are the enemy of the rut. Blow one now! And see if it changes your perspective on anything.