Before I Forget, Today I Want to Remember...

how I felt when I took this bead off the mandrel and photographed it.

I felt:  very pleased. 

I saw: a blending of colors and patterns that only gravity could make.

I heard: a satisfied sigh slip from the depths of my artist's soul

I touched:  the smooth surface and felt the cool temperature of this bead.  I felt the moisture from the water in which it had been soaking.

I smelled:  the vinegar I had added to the water bath that would attack and destroy the bead release for easier removal from the mandrel.

I tasted: glass when I licked this bead!

Yes, this is what I want to remember today.

My Windows Were Open Last Night

I could feel the day fade into night.  Moments of early heat faded into the coolness of soft summer nights. 

I hear the sound of a radio playing in the distance.  I spiral back in time to my teen years when it was safe to leave windows open at night so the heat could  leave the house.  In the silence of the room, you could hear a radio accompany a young mechanic working  on his car.  The noises were the lullaby of the evening.

I feel the beads I left in the window to dry.  They are cool, almost cold, to my touch.  They roll about in my palms, and I think about the first glass bead I saw.  I remember how I marveled that anyone could put a real flower in that bead. I touch them again and feel their smooth texture. 

I smell the lilacs and hyacinths as the cool breeze circulates and swirls around me.  I stand by the window and remember the lilac bush outside my window at home.   It became the natural curtain for my window.  I smell the lilac fragrance and carry this memory with me even now, at my age. 

I see the neighborhood children playing outside in the encroaching darkness.  One boy is playing tennis by himself because the older boys are ignoring him.  I see him jump for joy.  He must have won his game!!

I taste the strawberries in my bowl.  Each berry is perfect in shape and size.  They are medium flares of red contrasting against the white of the bowl.  Tart and sweet.  No fruit can be both, but these are.  I taste their beauty.  Only a touch of sugar to heighten the sweet.  Perfection lives in these strawberries. 

My Meditaion Charm Bracelet

Taking the time to

pause and lift our minds beyond ourselves,

sometimes called meditation, prayer, being one with the universe,

has been proven, scientifically, 

to heal, rest, improve

our minds and bodies.

Finding the time, however, can be challenging.

Today, I made the first step towards making time in my day to take a mini vacation without leaving.

I made a "Meditation Bracelet."

 Each bead in this bracelet has a special meaning to me.

When I touch it, I stop.  I pause.  I get away from it all.

I'll share some of the bead meanings with you.

The heart helps me to remember that I am loved by God.

The rosebuds are my children who are the loves of my life!

 

The pearl charm reminds me of those precious, few trips to the ocean where the waves crash on the shore and the ocean sings.

The striped bead reminds me of the time we took a trip to the zoo and a HUGE tiger walked over to the glass, looked at me, and licked it's lips!

(The tiger was huge!  I was an adult when this happened!  It's not a childhood memory!)

What else could the cupcake mean?  I love cupcakes!!!

From this angle it's hard to tell, but it's a bird.

Why a bird?  Believe it or not, there was a time in my life, I wished that I could be a bird.

Do you ever make jewelry with a meaning?

Tell me about it!