Being away from home is no reason to pause the creative process. In fact, what better opportunity to practice ingenuity? Far from routine, supplies, and all that is well known, we have to stretch and think differently.

This morning I found myself seated at a plastic table, dining on a breakfast of Super Pretzel and nacho cheese, watching my daughters and several hundred other children splash and bob in unusually warm waters to the sounds of pop music and lifeguard whistles. We’re kicking off the coming holiday week with a few days at a Wisconsin water park.

Staring at our breakfast mess, I remembered today’s make something assignment:  “Create a Rorschach test-style inkblot print” … and “have your friends interpret it.” On the table before me were the wrapper from our pretzel, a plastic cup of nacho cheese developing a dull skin, and a plastic spoon. This seemed as close as I might get today to a paper, paint, and brush.

I opened the wrapper to create a wide canvas, dropped a few globs of cheese, and carefully folded and patted the paper to make a print. When I peeled open the masterpiece, here is what appeared:

I could have carried this around the water park to gather interpretations. But what would you think of a woman in a bathing suit, wandering around with a cheese-stained wrapper, asking strangers for input? Yeah. I didn’t want to be that lady.

I did ask my daughters for views. (They already know I’m crazy.) One saw a duck, and the other a butterfly. I saw a turtle with extra large back flippers.

Then I posted the image on Facebook and invited participation. Throughout the day, good sports have weighed in. Viewing the very same image above, but turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise, here’s what they saw:

• Arrow heads.
• A Christmas tree in the middle with two angels in the sky on either side of the tree.
• Yummy splotches.
• A sea turtle and an angelfish.
• A broken butterfly.
• An autumn tree and clouds.
• Arrow in the middle, the Madonna upper right … the rest, I got nothing!
• Angel droppings.
• Cholesterol?
• The face of Jesus. You should therefore sell that on eBay.
• I saw 2 fish on the right and a rock top left. [Daughter] saw a mad face.
• Sea turtle.
• Arrow head, the Madonna and a nacho cheese blob.

How about you? What do you see?