Category Archives: Things

Box of things

A box of various items that I am relucent to dispose of has just resurfaced. I’ve written about some, but not all. Maybe more of these items will find homes.

I’ve already written about the gnomes, so I’ll leave them be for now.

I thought I’d written about the porcelain Wade figurines that came in boxes of Red Rose Tea back in the 1970s, but cannot find it in a search of my blog. I believe I had more at one time, but all I have is a rabbit, a hedgehog, and a leopard. I don’t know if I got them in England or when I returned to the States. Of course the hedgehog is my favorite.

Wait! I found another — a bird and this one says Wade on the bottom.

These two resin faces were made by Jeremy when he first visited the States. He crafted them in the art room at my high school. At least I think that’s were he made them. I had the clay mold he poured the resin into at one time, but that’s understandably long-gone.

This small compact was given to me by Frances Lide. Its needlepoint cover is in good shape, but the mirror inside is not. There’s still face powder inside! I think I know what I’m going to do with this. (Note that after I took the photo I cleaned up the mirror and it looks much better.)

Three black stones, two polished and one that might be some manufactured material. It looks like it has a seam and feels lighter than the other two. I think I will add these to the stones on our fireplace mantle. At least the polished ones.

Two tiny bottles. One is made to look like a Heinz ketchup bottle (it’s actually a pin for your lapel) and the other like a Coca Cola bottle. I don’t know where the Heinze ketchup bottle pin came from, but the Coca Cola bottle has been with me for decades. My Barbie doll used to drink from it. They are about 1.25 inches tall.

A very tiny toadstool. I should be using coins to compare the sizes of these miniatures, but the is about half an inch tall. It is possible that Clare made it for a terrarium she gave me. As you can see it is very detailed.

A Celtic cross that, I believe, was also part of the terrarium Clare made me.

A bird made out of plastic or bone (hopefully not ivory) — possibly some sort of pheasant. A gift from Frances Lide. It’s about 1.75 inches long and .75 inches high at the head. I remember exactly when Frances gave it to me and where I found it at her house. For some reason I was looking in a drawer of her sideboard in her dining room and it was among other items. She asked if I would like it since I liked birds.

A plastic vial containing bits of heather, including rare, lucky white heather and a tiny seashell. I picked these up on my first trip to Scotland with the Burgoynes.

And finally a piece from a crystal chandelier. I probably picked this up at an antique store, but I remember talking to Frieda, an elderly next-door neighbor when we lived in Alexandria, about how beautiful these were when they refracted the light and made sparkles on the walls and ceiling. This one doesn’t make rainbows, just sparkles.

Letters to George Bush (the elder)

In the spring of 1991, probably because it was close to Earth Day or maybe I’d just taught a unit on environmental studies, I had my students write letters to President George Bush requesting he be more concerned about the Earth. It’s actually odd I did this at that time because he’d just announced Proclamation 6274 (Earth Day).

We received a reply, but I may have thrown it away. It was pretty exciting though.

Here are the letters:

Dear Mr. President,

We are Michael and Callie and we are interested in saving the Earth. We would like you to try to stop people from littering. And to make a law to stop people from littering.

Sincerely,
Michael and Callie


Dear Mr. President,

I understand that you have a lot of work to do but anyway I know that you want to be known as the Environmental President and I want to help. The first way is you could try to provide a safe place for animals. The second way is you could set a new law. It could be that you could arrest people who litter. You could also try to stop pollution by banning hairspray and just use mousse. You could also try to ban cigarettes and try to stop anymore oil going into rivers, streams, oceans, and seas. I would be pleased if you wrote back. If you write back can you send some of your ways to help the Earth? Tell Mrs. Bush I said hello.

Sincerely,
Jessica


Dear Mr. President,

I think you should help clean up the environment and air. I think you should shut down the smoke factories for ever and ever. That would be nice to breathe clean air. I get sick when the air has too much smoke in it. I think it is wrong to pollute the air because it destroys animals and plants. When I see dead animals I feel sad

Sincerely,
Dallas


Dear Mr. Presidident,

Can you help stop pollution a little and litter too? Can you help clean the air? Can you help clean the water?

Sincerely,
Daniel


Dear Mr. President,

How is congress? Can you make a law about pollution because the cars make the pollution? Can you make people pick up trash?

Sincerely,
Ian and Mark


Dear President Bush,

How are you? I’m fine. How’s congress? Any new decorations for the oval office? Didn’t think so. Well, I wrote to say you’re a great president. BUT can you help us around here? The environment is getting really polluted and littered and the animals are disappearing. Please help. Pass a law or something. Build animal shelters. But please do something when and if you have the time, and if you come here in person please sit by me and we can talk. We have lunch at 12:05. If you come on Friday they have pizza. This school (unlike others) has great pizza. We sit at the last table with another class. Anyway, write back soon.

Sincerely,
Edward


Dear Mr. President Bush,

I would like you to help the nation get most of the pollution out of it. I would like you to make a home that is safe for animals and make a law to show that the world is in danger.

Yours sincerely,
Sarah


Dear Mr. President,

I wish you would stop the littering. You would not like what you see. Please do a good job. Please do me a favor and make a new law. If someone litters they have to pay a fine.

Sincerly,
Eric