Tools

My father, Adam, is a perfectionist. As a hobby, he has always worked with wood making beautiful furniture and accessories. When I think of my dad, I smell sawdust and hear the saw grinding. For all the years I have travelled home, I looked forward to seeing his new projects, tried to be patient while he was explaining his detailed techniques and quite simply, to smelling the wood curls that lay all over the floor. Now when I go home the first thing I see is this sign, "Tools for sale". In the same way he has always organized his workspace so perfectly, he has begun to display and sell his tools. I appreciate this and at the same time I am saddened by it. With each tool that sells, another memory seems to go with it. I have reserved some of his special tools...can't bear to have them sold and even though I don't know how to use them, I will always know that he did. Lovingly so.

Grace

Many years ago I had a college friend named Bob. After college, Bob dabbled in dance and worked his day job at Measurex. Bob worked with Susan and Susan was looking for a dance studio for her daughter Aimee. Aimee became my dance student and when she was old enough, helped me with Camille. Camille loved Aimee and I was very fortunate to have a reliable, mature and loving babysitter. Fast forward (and believe me, life is moving fast) to last week when Aimee stopped by with her two lovely children, Nya and the baby, Teyo. Aimee has always kept in touch with me and I treasure our visits. She reminds me of the value of my teaching years and for that I am grateful.
Nya is so sweet and clever. I loved her moment in the old French bucket and her choice of stuffed animals from Camille's bedroom. That dog was one of my stuffed animals when I was a child. She is a charmer! And Teyo....well, he took me back in time. He reminded me of the joy and peace that is found in holding a baby. I closed my eyes and remembered my Camille...He fell asleep in my arms for the rest of the visit and I fell under his spell. His smell, his soft breath, his absolute trust in the person that was holding him--a perfect calm. The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle and I was in the presence of grace.

Feeding Success!

I worked a pretty full day today, June 3, 2010. It wasn't an ordinary day today as it is the day on which Camille K took the first steps toward producing its secondary jewelry line. With thrill and fear ( more thrill than fear!) I am choosing 15 pieces of my primary line to be reproduced in larger quantities. So with a bag full of jewels, I left my atelier to head home and work some more! Part way there I thought about dinner....hmmmm. Alain is in Tokyo, Camille is in London and I will be dining solo. What would I like? Yes! Sancho's fish tacos--the absolute best! That decided, I started thinking about the importance of the day and what I would do to seal Camille K's success. I'm always looking for a lucky charm, a sign, a way to wish, or a deed to perform to bring on the good karma! I pulled into a great parking spot and headed into Sancho's. There was a young man, bike helmut still on, ordering his dinner. It was his first time at Sancho's so he had a lot of questions...I was still occupied thinking about finding my karma moment so I was patient. When it came time for him to pay, the cashier told him they only accept cash. He stood there crushed while staring into his very empty wallet---no cash! And so it appeared that my moment had arrived. I asked him if he would mind if I paid for his dinner. He turned red and smiled and in a very timid voice replied, wow...thank you! He said that he wished there was something he could do for me. I told him that he already had...with his red cheeks and kind smile! And to myself I added, and you just contributed to the success of my business!

I have always believed that what you give out returns to you and so tonight I fed a stranger dinner, myself some fabulous fish tacos and I fed Camille K's success!