B is for Beautiful, Beneficial Baskets

I love baskets. They're beautiful and decorative, they're practical and useful, they last for years (except for the schlock you get from Walmart that store that shall remain unnamed). I use one of my baskets every day to transport some of my necessities back and forth to the studio and the house, things like my calendar, my iPod and Kindle, my meds, notebook and pens, Liza's toys and treats. I can keep everything together in one easy-to-carry container. Sometimes I take a basket to the co-op or the farmers market to carry my groceries. It makes me feel very European-small village-ish.

Of course, baskets have been in use for millennia, spanning the globe, from ancient Egypt to the Arctic to Africa and what is now the southwestern United States. I particularly love Native American baskets, the intricate designs are incredible. They're made from a variety of materials, among them bark, pine needles, porcupine quills, reeds and grasses. The uses for baskets are almost limitless - and literally from cradle to grave.

I took a basket weaving class many years ago - I wasn't very good at it, but it was fascinating to learn how the materials wove together, how some of them can create such a tight weave one could carry water in them.

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I decided to participate in pontycyclops's alphabet challenge - A to Z, one letter per week. Since I failed so miserably right from Day One at the February daily challenge, maybe I can manage one a week! I just discovered it, so missed last week, though my accordion photo qualifies. It's too late to edit the title, though.