i can feel on this trip that i was in need of the change of scenery that travel brings - new impulses, new impressions, new thoughts. it just realigns you in a way that staying at home can't do (even if you've just moved, apparently). all of the new input brings fresh inspiration and new configurations in the way you think about things.
so during those moments in the car when i had time to think, i found myself mulling over the textiles i had seen in the antique shop, the care that had gone into the stitches and the care that had gone into displaying them - they were washed and bright and charmingly displayed. little bits and pieces of lives gone before, lives lived on these prairies - handmade lives. pieces of a time both gone by and one which we find ourselves yearning for to the point where we scribble notes about them in the notes app on our iPhones. so i was thinking of how to marry that nostalgia with the present. how to live with a foot in both worlds. and whether it's even possible....
12 comments:
The crochet-virus has hit you!!!!
The textiles are really beautiful. Are you gonna take some home? Would love to see them for real.
Happy travelling.
i have a need for marrying nostalgia to the present too. i think the past - whether in people's memories and stories, books, places or objects enriches our lives. in the same way that we hope and know the memories we are creating this very moment will be enriching our lives, and the lives of our loved ones.
p.s.: i think i have to read little house on the prairie too. and an american road-trip has long been on my wish list...
Sounds like you're having an awesome time.
It is true, there is a certain amount of having to be away somewhere that makes your mind work differently.
I quite often buy things in charity shops/second hand shops. It pleases me to think that those things have a history, and sometimes I try to find alot out about the item, and imagine the person who made it/used it doing so.
I love rode trips... its hard to be in the car for loooong periods of time but getting away is sure a reward for it. We have a friend in Montana and we are thinking of driving instead of flying ,,, just because... Arizona to Montana... now how bad can that be?!
Trina
www.mommeville.com
If anyone can come up with a way to marry the nostalgia with the present, it would be you my dear. You've brilliantly described how the things of the past make you feel. I agree completely (and wish I could write in such an honest way, like you).
Yep, travel and the change of scenery can certainly balance everything out can't it? Well said!!
I am loving these posts from the prairie, but they are making me want to get out to the plains, pronto.
what a gift to look at these nice clots
you make me envious :))
enjoy your trip
There's something about reconnecting with our roots and sharing them with our children. I feel a heightened sense of awareness as I try to convey what I see and feel to my kids whenever we visit Amsterdam.
I am a true sucker for these linens. I love each and everyone of the selections you show here.
I love the pictures! Without the past we wouldn't have the present! You will find a wonderful way of marrying the past with the present! Enjoy the rest of your trip!
I think it is getting harder as time goes by. But I also think there is a movement, that thrives here in blogland, back towards the handmade, the simplicity, the oasis of home. My feet are in both world, firmly planted.
Roaming antique stores and searching through the gorgeous quilts and all their glorious hand stitching is my idea of relaxation. Over the years I've found a few quilts that I've used as my inspiration point to decorate rooms with.... And that always leaves me feeling so many quilts, too few rooms.
I like to mix things up too-- old and new. My current house is totally "finished" and I'm yearning for a new house to start from scratch with-- Although that's not going to happen, I still roam antique stores where ever I travel.
Have a grand time and enjoy! Thanks for the great pics. Happy July 4th on the prairie!
jj
I've been traveling in Washington State this past week and thinking a lot about the past. We stayed in an historic B&B in a town full of antiques. It's an odd feeling to see something sold as an antique that you saw in your mother's home.
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