On the Move

I am nearly all moved into my new apartment and have begun to restock my bookshelves. I made the mistake early in life of loving to have books all around me. I think it was my Dad who instilled that impulse in me with his extensive religious libraries at home and at his various offices over the years. I love it except when I have to move them. Then not so much. In my next life, I'm collecting butterfly wings.* * * * * * * * * *Among the items I unpacked were my tiger cowrie shell with the Lord's Prayer in raised letters on the surface. A FB friend said the artist likely wrote the prayer with a liquid that blocked an acid wash under the letters and which mildly eroded the remainder of the shell surface. I found some for sale on Ebay and while they're not all that expensive, they are very cool. The cowrie shells are common in the South Pacific. My dad gave that to me many years ago. Another find was a tiny book of some of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poetry which was given by my great grandmother to my grandmother in the early 1900s. Mabel was my grandmother's name and the book was a gift it appears for a birthday. An internet source showed the Valentine and Sons Limited company had an office in Dundee, Scotland. The coat of arms on the cover of the book is from Shropshire, England, though, and my grandmother lived in Wales as a child.

I'm still gradually moving the remainder of my earthly possessions from my sister's house each time I teach out at the Elkhorn campus, but will get classes at Sarpy MCC and the South Omaha campus as they become available. * * * * * * * * * While huddled with my mother in the lower level of the eye doctor complex due to a tornado warning last Thursday, a woman whom I met many years ago who displayed my art in a book store she owned, saw me. She works at the optometry center now. She walked over and said hi to me and remarked that she still has one of my paintings hanging in her house! Always nice to hear that from a patron! * * * * * * * * * Garrison Keillor on Hilary Clinton - "What some people see as a relentless quest for power strikes me as the good habits of a serious Methodist. Be steady. Don’t give up. It’s not about you. Work for the night is coming."