Well, they’re really not, but you would think that they were the way she saves keys. Most of them look like they’re from luggage that was thrown away years ago, or for little tin boxes that she no longer has — except for the one that she does have but doesn’t have a key for. Will she throw them away? Oh, no. Because you never know.
Then there’s all the amber jewelry she brought back from her last trip to Poland, which had to be a good 35 years ago. She kept giving me these strands of graduated polished amber chunks, which I really hate and never wore. So now I’m faced with her stash and the stash she gave me (which I never got rid of because she periodically asks me if I still have them and wants to see them).
Over the years, however, I did take some of them apart, combined them with other objects, and redesigned them into necklaces I would definitely wear. Except, as I get older, my neck gets shorter (at least it seems that way) and I tend not to wear necklaces. I stopped wearing bracelets when I started using a keyboard. They just got in the way.
The necklace I like most that I remade now has a white and gold amber pendant (which I bought) hanging from it that looks rather like a stylized Amazon labrys.
I would definitely wear that one, if I had any place to go.
These days I live in jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers. So what about all those shoes? Leftover from a life full of work and dancing, they are slowly being left to those who might better use them. It’s a slow letting go.
Kalilily Time
Just an old lady talking to herself
Elaine, years ago I walked past a lady in a Shopko store who was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and lawn-mowing tennis shoes – you know the kind … a toe or two showing, bits of grass still hanging on, and various shades of green. What made me linger in looking, however, was what at that time appeared to me to be a HUGE diamond pendant, amazingly beautiful for size, refraction, and mounting. I took up the boldness to comment and said in the ensuing exchange that I would love to have a necklace like that one day, but I really didn’t think I’d have anywhere to wear it. I will never forget her answer. “Oh, my Dear,” she said, “a necklace of anykind only frames the beauty of the woman who wears it, and you wear your beauty wherever you go.” I offer her comment to you today, Elaine. Such a beautiful necklace as the one you picture in your post today seems no more than a fitting frame for the beautiful woman you wear wherever you go … a beauty so often on display in your writing here. It is a pleasure to read.
Thanks, Mary. You’ve inspired me to adorn myself as I see fit. Wearing that necklace is the first step. I used to do that kind of adorning regularly. Caregiving is wearing out my sense of adventure on lots of levels. You’ve also inspired me to get familiar with your weblog, which I thank you for introducing me to with your comment.
I second Mary’s comment–I recall reading in a cookbook the advice to use the cut crystal glasses for grapefruit juice, just to use them, because the more you use and cherish beautiful things, the more beautiful things will come into your life. (Or maybe, the more you will be able to see the beauty in ordinary things…)
Perhaps there’s some amber pieces that could be made into earrings, to match your necklace…
Well, you will all be glad to know that I went out to the movies tonight dressed in jeans, a sweater, and my amber necklace.