PotW 9/18/13

Hi Everyone-

While at the bead store last week, I could not resist a strand of barrel-shaped 'Wooden Lace Jasper' beads.  The stripes, the colors, the weight of them...they just seemed like the perfect thing to make a chunky necklace to welcome the arrival of Fall.  I walked around and around the store with them in my hand, looking for just the right strand of something else that would complement the Jasper, yet provide some textural interest of its own.  Finally, I settled on a reddish-brown strand of triangular Bayong Wood beads.  Come to find out, selecting wood was a very coincidental pairing...

Wooden Lace Jasper, like all Jaspers, is actually Agate.  The difference being that Jasper is used to refer to the varieties that are not translucent, while Agate refers to those which are.  But even more interesting, as I discovered while researching the beads, is that Wooden Lace Jasper, aka Agate, is actually Petrified Wood!

Petrified wood is formed when trees are covered with mud, sand and mineral-rich water.  As the wood decomposes, the minerals around it begin to combine with the carbon, forming Agate.  What results is an opaque 'rock' with bands of color that represent the layers of wood, sand and mud.  Typically, (as with the beads I bought), petrified wood is brown/black, red, tan or orange...or a great mix of all of these!

The largest known concentration of petrified wood is in Arizona and was first "discovered" and written about in 1853.  The Petrified Forest National Park was later established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 after conservationist John Muir convinced him of its uniqueness and value as a fossil recovery site.   To this day, the Park is one of the most continually-worked archaeological and geological research sites in the world.

Archaeologists working within the Park have determined that people were present in this area 13,000 years ago.  "Agate House", a dwelling or ceremonial lodge within the Park boundaries, is believed to have been constructed by people of the Anasazi tribe using blocks of petrified wood as long as 900 years ago.  Carbon dating of the blocks used in this building show the tree from which the blocks came to have been alive 200 million years ago!  The largest petrified wood log found within the Park is over 190 feet long and weighs 168 lbs per cubic foot.  Wow.  Petrified wood is one of the densest materials known to man.

Because it is illegal to remove rocks from a National Park, it is unlikely that the beads I purchased are from Arizona.  I'd hate to get myself or any of you in trouble just for owning a great looking piece of jewelry.  But other sources of petrified wood in Argentina, Egypt and the Czech Republic are routinely 'mined' for commercial purposes.  Lucky for us---because now these beads made of really, really old wood can be combined with some new wooden beads and no one will have to go to jail for wearing them!

Check out the photos on the website--link below my name.

Until next week--Own a piece of pre-history!

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 8/21/13

Hi Everyone-

One thing's for certain:  We are all getting older and must accept the good and the bad that comes with it.  There are the aches and pains that remind you that maybe you were a little rough on your body once upon a time (or maybe still are).  There are the wrinkles that might be the result of too much time outdoors, pre-SPF wisdom.  Any gray hair you see you might just blame on your choice to have one or more children.  Those are the not-so-good but inevitable parts of aging that none of us can avoid entirely.

Along with these relatively minor annoyances are some good things.  Comfort with and self-acceptance of who you are.  Appreciation for friends and family who allow you to be who you are and love you anyway.  And a lifetime of memories that gets richer and more valuable as each year passes.  Stories from the good old days are some of the most treasured, and time spent with friends you have known practically forever is sure to encourage a stroll down memory lane.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said: "Memory is a net that one finds full of fish when he takes it from the brook, though a dozen miles of water have run through without sticking."

How true is that?!  Get a group of friends together who have a common history, let someone start a story with "Remember the time when....?", and you'll end up with a few different renditions of how the events being recollected actually occurred.

Part of it's just a perspective thing.  Did you ever see that movie "Vantage Point"?  It's a story told by seven people who were witnesses to the same event, and they have significant differences in opinion about what happened.  This is a much-studied psychological phenomena.  We all process sensory input through the filter of our own experiences.  Even without any extra-curricular, memory-impairing additives like alcohol, (or the simple fact that you may have left the room to go to the bathroom at a critical point on the evening in question), we are naturally prone to having varying perceptions, and thus, recollections of the same event.  It is reasonable to write off some of the differences in how things are remembered to that. 

Another part of it may be that we are all aging and that our memories don't function as well as we get older.  This is a medical fact, and another reason to excuse your friends when they start telling fish tales that leave you scratching your head and asking yourself what in blazes they are talking about. Or if maybe it's YOUR memory that is failing because that's not what you remember at all.  Another possibility to consider.

Recently, Andrew spent some time with someone he was very, very close to in high school, and came away incredibly disturbed by the encounter.  In his (Andrew's) presence, the friend was telling stories about days gone by and the things that he and Andrew used to do together.  He carried on about his own athletic accomplishments with extreme exaggeration.  To the point of pure fiction, as Andrew tells it.  

It left Andrew baffled for days, and more than a bit worried about his friend:  Is he showing signs of early Alzheimer's?  Is he a pathological liar?  Why would he say those things?  Does he really believe that is what happened?  Why would he fabricate so much in my presence knowing that I could dispute what he was saying?

Did Andrew's friend simply remember all the fish in the net of his memory, and forget the 'details' that ran through like so much water?  Oliver Wendell Holmes may be right, but there is yet another explanation.

Maybe he's just full of crap.  Many of us know a pathological story-enhancer who is convinced of his own ability to cast a line and reel us in.  This unfettered salesmanship--of ice to Eskimos--twists, edits and embellishes those "Remember when...?" stories, turning shared experiences into something entirely unrecognizable.  A naive audience will swallow the story like guppies gobble fish food.

But there just might be someone in the room who won't bite.  On this score, I think Mark Twain said it best of all:  "Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish."  Gotta love Mark Twain, don't you?

Swimming through this week's stream of consciousness, you may have detected a theme.   I managed to catchanother of those cute little sterling Fish and Hook clasps that was featured a couple of weeks ago.  The first one was landed by a very customer quickly, but there was a feeding frenzy of response from others who missed out.  So I thought it worthwhile to re-stock the supply.  In a new way, of course.  Check it out on the website.  Link below my name.

Until next week--I've dangled the bait.  I hope I get a bite!

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 8/14/13

Hi Everyone-

50 years ago today, an little piece of Americana was created.

I'll go out on a limb and bet that just about everyone reading this has owned at least one set during their lifetime.   If you have not actually owned one, I will bet that you have at least used one.  Childhood summers practically required it.

This invention is still widely available, and I'm guessing under $10.  An innocent enough thing, created by a father, a former semi-pro ball player, who wanted to help his 12 year old son learn to throw a curveball without doing damage to his shoulder.  The prototype was made from a perfume package.

Theories differ on how it works.  Aerospace engineers say that the difference in surface area on one side, as compared to the other, effects the way the object passes through the air.  Users, aficionados and Peter Pan types who take this particular object a bit more seriously than I certainly ever did, point out that this theory only applies to the item when it is brand new.  Once used, it seems, it's a whole new ball game.

As a matter of fact, I discovered that there are people who deliberately modify this item to reverse the intended effect of the design.  Heading into competition, unsuspecting opponents fall one after another--expecting one thing, and getting quite another.  Modifications to the design utilize combinations of sandpaper, duct tape, athletic tape, electrical tape (arguments abound about which is best), and pennies.  

A companion item may be modified as well, with its hollow cavity being filled with rolled up newspapers, sand or water. User comments and anecdotes on one website refer to this as a 'weapon', and at least one person confessed to breaking his brother's arm with one.

Non-purists can ditch the companion item altogether and go buy a replacement that might cost several hundred dollars.  These people get in fights with the purists.  If it came to blows, the non-purists would win.

Speaking of fights, you might have gotten into some where the rules of engagement were concerned.  Because playing in different venues evokes different rules.  "One sewer/two sewers" might be the rules on a street in the Bronx.   "The corner of the doghouse and the back fence" might be the rules in a suburban yard.  "The chicken coop and the mailbox at the end of the driveway" might be the rules on an Iowan farm.  Heck, just moving from one yard to another within your own community could change things up enough to require negotiations about the number of people per side or allowed use of imaginary players!

Typically, these things got worked out just fine.  It taught us all something about compromise and working together for a common goal---namely, stop talking and start playing.  A valuable lesson, really, and one that has probably served most of us in our adulthood.  This was all good stuff and no one got hurt.

Yet, in April 2009, the New York State Legislature, having nothing better to do and apparently having forgotten their own younger years, put this icon of American childhood on a list of "dangerous activities" (even without the modified gear), and prohibited it in summer camps.   However, such uproar came from sane grown-ups across the state that they tabled the proposed legislation 11 days later.   Unlike "JARTS" (remember those!?), it is hard to see these things as "dangerous".

Even Eric Cartman knows it is just about impossible to hurt someone with one of these things.  

So today, on the 50th anniversary, of this beloved implement of fun, this thing that taught us how to play well with others, how to negotiate and agree on a common set of rules, and how to gain advantage by modifying our equipment, I can say only this:  Play Ball!  WIFFLE Ball, that is!

There is absolutely NO tie-in between the featured piece and this message, but I hope you'll check it out anyway.  It's on the 'Odds-n-Ends' page of the site.  Link below my signature.

Until next week--Google "Cartman WIFFLE ball bat" if you want a giggle.  The music is clever.

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 8/1/13

Hi Everyone---

Welcome to August!  I hope this finds you all enjoying your summer as it speeds past.  I'm back from a bit of stay-cation and vacation, and having not put out a message since June, well, I figured it's about time I check in...

Recently I found a new materials supplier who has a whole lot of wonderful stuff that called out to me from the catalog pages, begging to be purchased.  So I obliged, and now have a pile of goodies on my desk and workbench to play with.

One such item is the clasp used in this week's featured piece.  Go ahead and scroll to the bottom and head straight to the website if you must.  Otherwise, read on...

As you know, we have a little 17' Boston Whaler docked at our house, and love to go cruising up and down the Kennebec River.  On our trips, we almost always see Bald Eagles---yes, more than one!  Seals basking on rocks.  Striped bass jumping.  And, more than once---Atlantic Sturgeon.  Last summer, one leapt from the water no more than 2 feet from the side of our boat.  It was about 5 or 6 feet long and we got a REALLY good look at it.

Ever seen a sturgeon?  They are the ugliest fish you can imagine.  Prehistoric in fact and appearance--they have been on the Earth for 120 million years--and have armored plates rather than scales.  Originally thought to be a worthless fish and a nuisance to fishermen, whose nets were cut by the sharp skin of the fish, they eventually became an important economic crop---the first 'cash crop' harvested by the Jamestown colony settlers.  The skin was turned to leather and used for book-binding.  Isinglass, a form of collagen found in the fish's organs, was used in the production of wine and beer.  And then of course, there was the roe.

In the late 19th century, 7 million pounds of sturgeon meat was exported from the US, making it one of the world's largest suppliers of caviar.  And the caviar from the Atlantic sturgeon was of such quality that it was nearly as sought after as the much-prized Beluga Caviar found in sturgeon who swim the Caspian Sea.  Over-fishing resulted, and at one point, a mere 22,000 lbs of sturgeon meat was caught and exported in a year.  Although that number rebounded somewhat, in February, 2012, the Atlantic Sturgeon was put on the Endangered Species list.

Which makes it pretty cool that we get to see them now and then in the Kennebec, right?  

Anyway...  The other day I was looking at this unique sterling silver clasp, and these cool, red, silver and black beads on my workbench, and I thought, "Hey!  I'll write about sturgeon and caviar this week!"  So I Googled it.  And what did I find?  An article in the Bangor Daily News, dated 7/31/13, about a researcher at the University of New England who just caught a 7 foot long, 250 lb Atlantic Sturgeon in the Saco River here in Maine!  (They actually caught 40 sturgeon while doing research that day, but the 7 ft long one was the biggest.)

They aren't sure if the sturgeon in the Saco River are spawning or just feeding, but consider it a good sign that the population is making a comeback.  Researchers have already determined that the fish in the Kennebec River are spawning, so we should be seeing more of them as years go by.

From my research I also learned that Atlantic Sturgeon can live to be 60 years old and grow to 14ft long and weigh 800 lbs.  Which has me thinking we should get a bigger boat!

Here's the link to the BDN story about the fish caught in the Saco, if you are interested.

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/06/06/outdoors/une-researcher-nets-7-foot-250-pound-atlantic-sturgeon-in-saco-river-says-its-a-sign-of-the-prehistoric-fishs-comeback/

The Piece of the Week is on the Website, link below my signature.

Until next week (or whenever I get around to writing again...)

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams!

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 6/6/13

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are enjoying the lovely Spring weather.  It's been great to get out and work in the yard, though again I find myself frustrated that a certain tall, yellow perennial has gone bed-hopping once more and is appearing in additional places around my yard.

Didn't that bed over there used to be filled with purple and blue things?  Lupine, Salvia, Campanula, Delphinium...I distinctly remember planting them.  Now it's just full of YELLOW.  Helio-somethings.

For I am a very accidental gardener.  I've learned through trial and error (mostly error), what grows in my yard and what doesn't.  What spreads when I don't want it to.  How tall things get--obscuring what's behind them.  When in the season things bloom and when they just look like all the other weeds around.  And which weeds actually bloom and aren't half bad, so "Andrew, please don't run over them with the push-mower because I kinda like the tall, poker-shaped weed with the silver-green, fuzzy leaves".

But the time has come to be more educated in my planting attempts.  We are having our front walkway re-done in gorgeous granite cobblestones.  I'd like to have some perennial beds alongside, but I'm not sure what to get.  I have learned (again from error), not to trust the local nursery for advice:  they sold me the 30ft tree at the end of my porch that was supposed to be only 17ft tall and the Holly bushes that grow to be 15ft tall when what I asked for was a "hip-height evergreen shrub for a low hedge beside my walkway".  Ooh, weren't those fun to dig out and transplant?  Sorry, Andrew.

I've been burned by plant catalogs as well---those Helio-monster plants were part of a 'pre-planned perennial assortment', complete with planting diagram (which I followed meticulously).  Yet never once did the catalog or planting instructions mention that from year 3 forward, the Helio creature would be the only thing you could see.  Everywhere. In. Your. Yard.

Thus, I am extremely gun shy where these new beds are concerned.  I don't know what to pick.  I know what I like, but I don't know how to arrange them for proper height display, a variety of colors and bloom times.  And I am particularly afraid of plants that spread--either by viny root system or by self-seeding.  I don't want to spend time and money planting a beautiful assortment only to end up with one attention-hogging bully plant taking over.  I am being stricken with the biggest case of indecision I have ever experienced.  

Can you feel my pain?  Have you ever not been able to choose when faced with multiple choices?  Well, here's a test for you:  This week I am offering 3 pairs of earrings, rather than just one.  Because I just couldn't decide which one to feature and which two to hold for another week.  My indecision is now your problem.  Ready, set, choose!  See them on the website---link below my signature.  

Until next week---(when I fortunately have someone coming to help me with plant selection!!!)

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 5/1/13

Hi Everyone----

As you may have noticed (or maybe not), I've been more than a bit lax about getting weekly messages out in 2013.  Blame it on an abundance of snow and a serious love of skiing.  I logged 59 days this year.  The first on November 9th and the last on April 28th.  I really wanted to get 60 days in and be able to say I skied some portion of 7 months of the year, but a couple of things conspired against me.  First...Sugarloaf decided not to run the lifts during the week anymore, so I couldn't just stick around and take a couple of runs last Monday and call it good.  Second, the cold weather, tight ski boots and constant abuse of my feet cost me a big toenail (again).  Not too comfy to put that in a sock, in a boot, etc etc etc.  So I am done.  Gives me something to shoot for next year, I guess.

Thus, here I am at home where Spring has sprung.  Buds are popping on the trees.  Forsythia, tulips, daffodils and crocuses are out everywhere.  And the grass is greening up.  Big time.  I'll be mowing before I know it.  Definitely before I want to.  "Dear John (Deere)...Can't wait to resume our summer relationship.  I just love, love, love those hours spent riding around (and around, and around) with you.  X0.  Me"

But before then--I thought I'd resume writing with a bit of trivia about May 1st, or "May Day".

May Day is an ancient spring festival in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s an astronomical holiday, one of the year’s four cross-quarter days, a day that falls more or less midway between an equinox and solstice – in this case the March equinox and June solstice. (The other cross-quarter days are Groundhog Day on February 2, Lammas on August 1 and Halloween on October 31.) Did you know this?

May Day also stems from the Celtic festival of Beltane, which was related to the waxing power of the sun as we move closer to summer. At Beltane, people lit fires through which livestock were driven and around which people danced, moving in the same direction that the sun crosses the sky

None of the above is to be confused with the term "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!", but it got me wondering why you say "Mayday" when you need a rescue at sea...so I Googled it and include it here for purely tangential and entertainment purposes...  Confound and astound someone at your next cocktail party with these little tidbits. 

"Mayday" is the internationally recognized voice radio signal for people and ships in serious distress.  Coming from the French term "venez m'aider!", meaning "come help me!", it became the international standard rescue call in 1948.

To celebrate May Day, there is a new Piece of the Week featured on the website.  Green for the Celts.  Green for May.  With a little bit of gold---in homage to John Deere and dandelions.  Not distressing at all.  Check it out.  Link below my signature.

Until next week--

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 3/27/13

Hi Everyone!

It's March Madness once again.  Which means bracket pools.  Which means that I just did my annual blind-folded free-throw selection of teams.   Not that I give a dribble about basketball, mind you.   It's just that Andrew thinks he needs something to do.  You know.  Cross off losing teams, circle winning ones.  Compare his sheet to mine.  And Nate's.  And Naismith only knows how many other people's.  

I turn in my choices each year, accept the ridicule that comes with them, and then sit back and get my daily update without having to watch a single tip-off.  And you know what?  I don't do half bad.

I picked 66% of the first round teams correctly.  I even picked Harvard!  Why, you ask?  Well, because last year we went to see a friend's daughter cheer for the BU basketball team in a game against Harvard.  I could say I scouted them pretty hard, but I'd be lying.  I was watching Allie get tossed into the air and chatting with Susan.  If I've heard of the school before, they pass the first level of consideration.  If I've actually ever been to one of their games, well, sheesh, I practically HAVE to choose them, don't I?  My selection criteria is extremely stringent and highly scientific, as you can see.  

Which is why I, along with almost everyone else, was caught off guard by FGCU.  Who the heck are they?  Hah.  We all know now, don't we?!  But I heard in my status report last night that despite missing this year's Cinderella boys, I still have 50% of the teams active on my sheet.  (Are we down to 16 teams now or 8 or what?)  Yup, I've been following the tournament very, very closely.

March Madness is just that--madness.  And now the games are stretching into April!  So what is that--April Absurdity??  As far as I'm concerned, the only interesting hoops are made of gold or silver.  If you happen to agree, you might like the ones I just made today.  They are...the Piece of the Week.  Link to the website below my signature.

Until next week--Sweet (hoop) Dreams.  Wake me when it's the Final Four.

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

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