Uncle Bob was the last of the elder generation to go. It started when my great-aunt Louisa passed two years ago. A steady stream of the older generation falling away: Uncle Larry and Aunt Kay died within days of each other in their home, too weak to tolerate the flu, the doc said. My mother … Continue reading Dorothea Lange, End of an Era: Funeral Cortege in a Small Valley Town, California, 1938
No. 15: Heirloom Autograph Book
Artist: Unknown/Olive May McQuown Title: Autograph Book Date: 1884 Culture: American, Remington, Indiana Provenance: Olive McQuown's sister (or cousin?) Anna (my great-grandmother), passed this on to her daughter Elma (my grandmother) who passed it on to my mother. It ended up with me after my mother's death. As far back as I can remember, my … Continue reading No. 15: Heirloom Autograph Book
Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir, 12th Century
Its stone walls stood sentinel on the tall embankment overlooking the Klyazma River, which wended its way sluggishly through an ocean of marshy green meadows. One end of the building swelled away from them toward the sunrise like an overripe fruit ready to burst. The other walls stood erect and prim, a musical rhythm in … Continue reading Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir, 12th Century
No. 14: High School Awards
Artist: Unknown Title: Collection of School Awards Date: 1998 Culture: American Provenance: Awarded to EAH in her senior year of high school High school looms large in my memory, as I guess it does for many people. But aside from one tattered old t-shirt, a collection of five or six diaries that I kept religiously … Continue reading No. 14: High School Awards
Anne Brigman, The Breeze, 1910
Up here—shrouded in mist and the scent of pine, a halo of fuzzy golden light surrounding my fragile silhouette—I am like a goddess. And so I strip myself of those most dull human identifiers. My hip-length jacket with the brass buttons that march up my torso, and my wide-brimmed hat with the plumage of feathers … Continue reading Anne Brigman, The Breeze, 1910
No. 13: My Ántonia
Artist: Willa Cather & Houghton Mifflin Company Title: My Ántonia Date: 1918; copyright renewed 1977 Culture: American Literature Provenance: Given to EAH by her mother in July of 1987 I recently found myself thumbing through my old copy of My Ántonia and felt an unexpected ache. I'm sure this is partly because I associate the … Continue reading No. 13: My Ántonia
Giuseppe Pellizza, Il Sole, 1904
Forty days, they told me—quaranta giorni—but I think it was more. Sixty? Seventy-five? No matter. It's over now. During my solitude, my bedroom quickly became a dark, fusty, unwelcoming place, so I slept on my balcony most nights, in spite of the cold, my down comforter and flannel pajamas wrapped tightly around me, the slender … Continue reading Giuseppe Pellizza, Il Sole, 1904
No. 12: Flower Bouquets
Artist: Nature/Various Title: Bouquets I have received Date: 2020 and before Culture: Nature Provenance: Gifts over the years Is there anything more sumptuous and life-affirming than a bouquet of fresh flowers? They can transform a room. They are luxuriant and fragrant and ever changing with their tight blossoms that open into lush blooms that eventually … Continue reading No. 12: Flower Bouquets
Gravestone from the Taifa Kingdom, Almería, Spain, 1044
The girl visited the grave on the hill nearly every day. It was late in the summer and the grasses and shrubs—the whole earth it seemed—were tawny under the bright, golden sun. The dry wind tugged at her veil, allowing tendrils of dark hair to escape and lash at her face. She always came … Continue reading Gravestone from the Taifa Kingdom, Almería, Spain, 1044
No. 11: Wedding Dress
Artist: St. Patrick Title: Wedding Dress Date: 2009 Culture: American (maybe Spanish?) Provenance: Purchased at Brides ‘n Maids, Santa Rosa, CA in 2009 Ten years ago Wednesday, two imperfect people married in a nearly perfect place. They said "I do" in front of a roaring fire in a 1920s fishing lodge tucked into the woods … Continue reading No. 11: Wedding Dress
