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When I was a child we visited small and large towns each weekend in the summer. My parents were both teachers and we had a happy living on teacher salaries supplemented by my parents business in the summer. Country Creations was my parents business. They made baskets and cradles to sell at craft shows throughout the summer months. This family business pulled us on the side of the road to pick up walnuts that had fallen on the ground later to be made into dye for the reed. It meant summer weekdays were spent filling pots with warm water and soaking the reed for my parents to later weave together. It meant watching my mother's hands "braid" together pieces of wood, bending them into shapes. The snapping of wooden strips on the counter was a common sound. The smells of boiling walnuts brewed into dye is a memory burned into my brain. Loops of reed hung in all sizes on nails from the floor joists on the basement ceiling. I'll never forget the time both of my parents were in the basement (their usual workspace) and I answered the phone:
"Hello?"
"Hi, are your parents home?"
"Yes, they are 'dying' in the basement."
My mother's footsteps up from the basement upon hearing my response to quickly explain they were in the process of dying reed.
I have many basket weaving memories. I loved going to "shows." My sister and I in the back seat of our cavalier covered in baskets with little room to move and if it was a good show, we had all the room we needed on the way home. The weekends where rain poured down and we had to cover everything in plastic and few came to buy. The orders. The awe of my parents' craft. The passion and dedication they showed for their art. These memories are far away now in time but permanently present in my mind.
I really enjoyed reading this memory! Your details of collecting walnuts by the road, of where materials were kept, of travelling in the car surrounded by baskets but not on the way back, and more all made this come alive for your reader. I would love to see a picture! Are there any?
ReplyDeletePS- I love and respect the art of basketweaving.
I will ask my mom. I would love to see these as well. It's been a while.
DeleteWhat fun memories. I have done some basket weaving and it is not easy. I also laughed at the image of you covered in baskets in the back of your parents cavalier. Several years ago we took a vacation and drove my husbands Cavalier. Every time we stopped we had to unpack the backseat so the girls could get out of the car.
ReplyDeleteI spent my summers working at the renaissance faire weaving baskets , weaving and making...well learning to make bobbin lace. I was not as accomplished at the bobbin lace, but I loved making baskets- I also like foraging the fairgrounds looking for queen Anne's lace, walnuts and other botanicals to dye yarn and reeds. One of the best things was dipping my hands into the cool water on a hot day- especially when dressed in historically accurate period clothing. What a special childhood memory!
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful memory. Somehow I can just picture you in the middle of it all. You really helped me to picture the process of weaving at a much deeper level than I have ever thought of it before. Loved these: loops of reed, braid together, snapping of wood strips. Funny the little things that take us back to the stories we have long left behind.
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