Crystal Light

I have moved this chandelier with me to two houses now.
I have always been fascinated with shiny---light and things that reflect light.

Grandma Jost's Crystal Christmas Ornament

Man in A Bubble



Dear Friend Bente's

Aunt Korrene's Snowflake

Cloud Crystal

I keep these pieces around me daily because they remind me of things or people I love. The heaviest piece on the chandelier is actually the snowflake---it has a wonderful lead weight, real substance. I do not know the story behind it, only that I got it from my dear aunt who knew I'd love it.

 

The crystal from Bente (my neighbor) was given to me the day I moved from Chicago, back to Kansas. Her friendship was such a gift to me. We "got" each other on a spiritual level---something both of us sensed even in the 4th grade. Bente must have watched me look around at her fancy lights one last time,  and I remember she jumped up on the banister and quickly stole the hand-cut crystal for me. Can you imagine? It was the summer between 7th and 8th grade and we both knew she was doing something that could really get her in trouble.

Bente's family was from Norway. Here mom had the richest voice with this thick Norwegian/Chicago accent. I can still hear her it. Several members of her extended family were artists, so they had all kinds of amazing art in their home. Nude line drawings, painting, crystal liquor decanters, porcelain eggs. It was the fanciest interior I had ever seen.

There was even a marble bust of her grandmother when she was a young girl!

 

I inherited the crystal ball Christmas ornament that was my maternal grandmother's. I miss that woman so much---and I think about her several times a week. She loved fiercely and always spoke up for those who could not do so for themselves. I love living daily with something she only allowed herself to indulge in one time per year. It reminds me of how I am the next version of her---that she cheers me on as I live how she might have had she been part of my generation.

 

I bought the crystal "C"s at Tuesday morning awhile ago. I love my married name.

 

I made the copper framed glass ornament several years ago. I lifted the deep sea image (toner transfer) from an antique biology textbook. I was fascinated with the image* back then---and my fascination with it has only grown as I have come to know more about the human experience through my own life experience and the illuminated words of Sloterdijk.

I am currently meditating on my own recent thought: Even the most vaulted dome is still a dome. While some people might think my thought depressing, I see its truth for what it is, and actually find great freedom in accepting it. Why worry like the man in the bubble?

 

*To me, the idea of man surviving underwater is like flight for some people.

I would rather have gills than wings.