An Amber Morning

The sunlight landed just right, illuminating the carnival glass butter dish on the breakfast table giving it an amber glow.  This is a piece I got from my auntie after she died in 1999; she had quite a collection of it.  When I saw it, the first thing that popped into my head, besides my auntie, was the Amber Room at the Catherine Palace outside of St. Petersburg that I visited in 2005.  The original room was dismantled and stolen by the Nazi's during the war; its whereabouts has never been discovered.  The room was reconstructed beginning in 1979 and had just opened to the public the year before I visited Russia.  It was truly stunning.  I brought back several pieces of amber jewelry from my trip but, unfortunately, all of it, except for one small pin, was stolen when my house was broken into 5 years ago.  Luckily, the thief did not get a carved piece of amber that was on my mantle and I include it as an extra.  If you like fast paced contemporary historical fiction, you might like The Amber Room by Steve Berry.  I've read most of his books and am never disappointed.  Here is a link to a brief, and mysterious, history of the Amber Room.