Faces

I bought this string of beads at a little stand near the Great Wall of China in 1980. Each face is carved from an olive pit and each face is different. There used to be a lot more of them (and they used to be on a silk string with a tassel) but the grandkids played with them every time they came to our house and over time a lot of them of them fell through the cracks.

 I ran across them today and thought what a lot they  have to say...about individuality (this was at the end of the cultural revolution when individuality was not encouraged, yet look at the range amongst these faces)  and about painstaking craftsmanship (they have individual teeth and earrings, and those expressions...all carved from an olive pit). No idea what the explanation for the holes in one fellow's forehead is...frontal lobotomy? They all have stories to tell, but one can only imagine what they are...

The face on the lower right perfectly expresses the way I feel about Mondays in general and this one in particular. It started out beautiful, sunny and sparkling with frost. We had a good class and John met Bob from the class and me at Trail House this morning. The barista remembered my name and I know I have known hers but I don't know it anymore. I need to learn it. She makes the best coffee....

I realized, driving in the sunlight, that my car was covered with fine white paint dust. I shouldn't have left my car in the garage when Carol was in there sanding our kitchen cupboards. Wiping it off is more like spreading it around but it does eventually wipe off and I'm pretty sure I don't want to put water on it.

Yet another trip to the dentist to have a new crown cemented ended badly when part of it broke off when I bit down on it while he was checking to see if it fit.  Isn't that what you're supposed to do with your back teeth? I have to go back again when they've fixed it. 

Putting cupboard doors back on the hinges and drawers back on their runners isn't nearly as easy as it would seem. Everything is back in place now but the big appliance drawer requires brute strength to open it. We're hoping an application of oil will do the trick.

It occurs to me that there is always an excuse for a glass of wine, whether it's to celebrate a good day or try to forget a bad one.