Monthly Archives: May 2024

The Fruit Basket

Family, Musings, Photographs, , , ,

Christmastime 1969 my family was given a fruit basket as a gift. It’s possible it was the first fruit basket we ever received because we took at least three photos of it.

In the above photo, Kevin, Mom, and I sit beneath the Christmas tree with the Fruit Basket in front of us. We’re all dressed up, so we must have been heading out to a relative’s soon — so it could be either Christmas eve or Christmas day.

This is a perfect photo to show off my mom’s creative endeavors. Mom’s painting of the African American woman was based on an image she saw in a magazine. It hung in the living room for a long time. I have it now, along with another, similar-sized painting of an Asian man with a rickshaw.

To the right, and below the painting is another craft mom made. It is a candle holder made out of several terracotta pots, partially spray painted black, then shellacked.

Also in this picture could be the only proof that mom made stained glass windows out of tissue paper and tape. I think mom wanted curtains over the windows and dad did not. Dad got fed up with the tissue paper stained glass and took a razor to them. After that she put black tape on the windows to represent segments of a stained glass window. I think Dad took a razor to that too. They eventually got wooden shutters to put on the inside for privacy.

In these two photographs Dad looks sad, angry, or depressed. Kevin looks mischievous.

Dad rarely smiled for photographs, but usually had a smile in his eyes, but in this case I don’t see any of that. I wonder what happened to make him so sad. It could simply be that he didn’t want to pose with the fruit basket but mom wanted him to so he was being passive-aggressive about it.

The first photo shows the curved shelf I remember well from the kitchen. I can see mom’s recipe box. on the second shelf.

I do have memories of the (or a) fruit basket and I think they might have gotten it from Dad’s workplace — this might have been the year he began working for Reber’s Appliance. I don’t know, however, why so many weird photos were taken of it.

Pegasus Book Plates

Things, , ,

I’d known little about book plates until I visited England where they were popular. When I told my mom about them she procured a small black box of book plates depicting Pegasus in the night sky. I didn’t ask where they came from — it was just something she had. Okay — maybe that’s not entirely true. It is possible I bought them at a yard sale. I don’t remember. I do remember using them though in only very special books.

The time has come to get rid of these — the glue on the back has gotten wet and now all the book plates are stuck to the next. I don’t know if I ever thought about the artist who designed them, even though his name is on the front of the box. I may or may not have known about the descriptive booklet that came with the box of book plates.

Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971), the artist behind the Pegasus book plates, was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. [Wikipedia contributors. “Rockwell Kent.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 Apr. 2024. Web. 25 May. 2024.] He’s got a page at the National Gallery of Art website, but none of his works are on display.

The Antioch Bookplate Company still exists, but is now called Bookplate Ink, and I could even order a set of Pegasus book plates if I wanted to. The company has a blog which might provide interesting reading.

A House Dream in 3 Acts

Dreams

Prologue

One of my recurring dream themes is us moving to a new house. I’m alternately excited and sad — excited about the new house and new possibilities and sad that we are leaving our old house. This dream must have been just before I awoke, because it was so vivid. I wrote it down while drinking my morning coffee.

Act I

We found a new home in Georgetown (maybe it was Georgetown, maybe it wasn’t) and started fixing it up. Our bedroom was spacious with a fireplace. Clare’s room was already sparkly and I loved it. I was surprised that it had a small set of stairs leading to a bathroom with two stalls and a sink in it. It seemed cool at first, but then Totty came in and said she thought it was creepy. I immediately saw that too.

Act II

Dean and I were sitting at the dining room table in our old house in Bethesda and I was sad that we were selling it.

Act III

I was driving to Georgetown and got lost. I decided to abandon the car and take Metro instead (nevermind that Metro does not go to Georgetown). I got off the Metro and walked down the street to our new house. On the way I saw a kid with an orange balloon running wild. He ran into the street. I expressed my concern to the parents but they told me to mind my own business. I could hear them talking about me for blocks.

I never got to see the new house again because I then took Metro to go home. I saw Rosanne and we hugged and walked arm-in-arm. I asked about her new job — she said it was in a “canine clinic” and she had adopted a dog. I stopped by her work and saw tiny puppies. I told Rosanne about my latest house dream, which by this time I realized was a dream.

I woke up happy that I’d had a house dream.

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