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Crazy as a Loom

Monday, January 25, 2010

Time, time

From Crazy as a Loom


I think this guy is a real smart ass butt. One foot on, one foot off. I think he is showing off.
Truth is, my camera battery is STILL charging.
Can you believe that?

It was 50 degrees here in northeast New York, and raining sideways all day.

I spent a considerable amount of time, trying to figure out which pieces of the new loom were what.
Someone took the entire loom apart, piece by piece. Usually, some sections are left intact. But not this one. Every piece is wrapped individually in newspaper, from 1986.
Yeah. What does that tell you??
Poor neglected loom.
It is a 45" Hammett, counterbalance loom, that does in fact look like it has been used hardly at all. If my camera was working, I would take a picture of the pile of boards that it is now, so you can be duly impressed when I get it together.
Maybe I will do that tomorrow.
But today, I had to quit early to take my mother to the dentist, and by the time I got home, I honestly just didn't want to go back out and get soaking wet all over again.
So I made some tea, and some corn meal muffins instead. That seemed like a likely option. They turned out great, too. Dense and chewy, just the way I like them.
Now I need to make some chili to go with them.
Tomorrow I have some help coming to unload a huge truckload of loopers. I am hoping that the rain lets up.
I got to thinking today about how age changes your perception.
When you are in your 30's, you can't really imagine being in your 60's. It is a lifetime away. You just know that you have TONS of time. Your children will stay young, and so will you. You make decisions based on the minute, sure that you will never get far enough away from them to see them from a different perspective.
I remember wanting to put an addition on my house.....I had three kids in the house at the time, 13, 14, and 7. There was only one bathroom, and we were feeling the crunch. Mornings were a nightmare. My best friend said simply....."don't do it."
I was indignant. What did she mean? What reason could there be not to do it???
But I listened to her, and to my finances, and I didn't do it. We coped. We got through it.

You know the upshot, right?
In a short, short short eleven years, my youngest went to college, and the house had grown big enough after all. Empty bedrooms, no one fighting for the bathroom, room for a studio. Time did what time does. It passed. Things changed. My life changed, along with my priorities.

Now, when I am tempted to grump about having to drive my 85 year old mother to the dentist, and then to the doctor's, and then to the store, when she hands me a package of sausage, "Here, cook these," leaving me standing there with my mouth open, I recalculate.
Being her age is NOT so difficult for me to imagine anymore. Knowing what I know. Seeing myself in the mirror every morning. The jump is not as hard to make.

So I cook sausages, and hope someday to have someone to cook them for me, someone who will smile and joke, "You're pretty high maintenance, you are."




7 comments:

LA said...

Putting a loom together is an interesting process. But, the best part is that you really appreciate it when you're through! My Baby Wolf arrived in pieces dripping screws and nuts out of the box in the driveway. But, I really love that little loom, now. We have history!!!! And, I know every nook & cranny of her!

Tina J said...

I had a 45 inch Hammet once! I ended up selling to a man for his first Loom. It was too big for me! Too far for me to reach the pedals and the beater at the same time, but on the other hand, it had a very deep weaving area.

Michael said...

I think that bird was extremely cocky.

"Here, cook these". HA HA. Love it.

ethelmaepotter! said...

Incredible photo! And, addressing the post prior to this one, Miss Lula looks like one pampered feline. And missing all those fabulous shots? Oh, yeah, I hear you. Yesterday, I missed a double rainbow and sunkissed barns with the darkest storm clouds you've ever seen as a backdrop.
You certainly have been busy with your rugs! How goes the shingles?

Doris said...

Love the bird picture. Good luck with the loom - hope not to many pieces are "left over"!!!!

KarenInTheWoods said...

Ohhh putting together an old loom is SO much fun!!! It's like a puzzle--- and you take note of the bolt head marks here, the marks from the washer there, so you know which way to stick the bolt in! I love the character of the bumps and bruises of an old loom, and the untold stories contained in the grain of the wood and the use over time. I wish I was there to help you!!!!

Unknown said...

Right now I see the relationship with my mom and grandma and it hits me that it will be her and I one day and not far off either. It's still hard to see that with my kids and I, but it will be here before I know it and it's a little frightening some days.

~Andrea~

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