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
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
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
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
My parents' country house was built nearly a century ago, and though it's a country house, it has many of the trappings of an upscale city dwelling. There are formal spaces with slick, polished wood floors, large glass windows with delicate carving around the moldings, and rich fabrics with tulips and rosettes adorning the floors … Continue reading Pyotr Konchalovsky, First Snow. Blue Dacha, 1938
Artist: Unknown Title: Perfume Set Date: 1993 Culture: American Provenance: Given to EAH by her aunt on her thirteenth birthday When I turned thirteen—something as a younger child I always denied would ever happen, deeming all teenagers to be evil incarnate—I was living in a small town in Illinois. I was at a new school … Continue reading No. 10: Perfume Set
Everyone told her it would be cold, but she thought perhaps the snow and ice might wait a while. At least give her a chance to settle in before greeting her. But that, of course, was not to be. Their caravan had been on the move for months now, and she felt that she had … Continue reading Pieter Breugel the Elder, Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap, 1565
Artist: Unknown, Moscow street artist Title: The Russia House Matryoshka Dolls Date: ca. 1991 Culture: Russian Provenance: Made to order in Moscow by EAH's father as a gift In a past that feels so distant that it seems impossible that I could have lived it, my family lived in Soviet Moscow where my dad was … Continue reading No. 9: The Russia House Matryoshka Dolls
I'm not sure how long the house has been abandoned, but since childhood it has felt like the old home had been given over to the forest eons ago. My friends and I would meet there after school. We would pretend it was a palace, a dungeon, a pirate ship, and sometimes—when my little sister … Continue reading Isaak Brodsky, Fallen Leaves, 1929
Artist: WubbaNub Title: Pacifier with Stuffed Elephant Date: 2019 Culture: American Provenance: Purchased at Target by EAH for her wee daughter If you think about it, our relationships with our babies are unusual since most other relationships are founded on a shared history—family that you've known since you were born or friends you've had for … Continue reading No. 8: Elephant Pacifier
Ellen A. Hurst 