That Delicate Satin-Draped Frame

At the family store, where my sisters Anya and Corinne and their mother Ellen show and sell the wares and works of artists and artisans, people ask very interesting questions. The first time I noticed this thinking at work, a woman browsed the little store for over an hour, then asked an exciting question: "Do you have any vases?" My heart skipped a beat. For a moment, I couldn't speak. Then I said, "Yes," because the store is a room - and I cannot overstate this - full of vases. Yesterday, a woman walked around in circles and finally asked, "Do you have anything with butterflies?" I gulped, then started at one end of the store and made a pile in a shopping basket for her that would have cost her hundreds if she hadn't exclaimed, "Stop! Stop! I don't like my friend that much." The other question that boggles my tiny mind is, "What would you do with these?" - meaning the pocket vases made by Daniel Latta of Latta's Fused Glass.

I make lists: love notes, pencil holder, bud vase, chopstick dispenser, spaghetti organizer, handy eyeliner file, recipe card stand, spare change jar, safe place for used razors, container for your shredded credit card bill (pay it first!), cat toy caddy, fresh herb frame, brilliant storage for your favorite stranded wire bundle, haystack for a beloved needle, rainy day cash safe, seed cup, display case for your tail comb collection. I could go on.

Pete and I were wandering through Acme, of all places, when I stumbled on a basket of oversized cinnamon stick bundles. I'd surmised I'd only be able to get them at an Indian grocery, but there they were. This hangs in our bedroom, a warm beige bearing little resemblance to this color, where lamplight appears to flicker and even with the camera's candlelight setting, the vase appears to move. Or we were having an earthquake no one else noticed. Either way, we couldn't take a picture of this vase that wasn't an action photo. Doesn't it look athletic?

In other news: Miss Sasha reports that Panky has begun to crawl: her life changed in a flash when he got up on all fours and made for the dog bowl.

Yes. I am still laughing.