10.27.12

Do you ever remember seeing these? Decorative glass shoes. I think Fenton Glass made millions of the things. I remember seeing them in every home when I was growing up, along with these marvelous grapes. I could not understand why my mother did not have the grapes. 
 I understood about the shoe; some things are so ugly their existence defies logic. I hope I have not insulted your aesthetic. If I have you nostalgic about your grandmother, you can get the green boot  HERE and the cobalt blue one HERE. Now the grapes? Lovely to behold. 

At age 8, I knew I would grow up to be a housewife and I would have a bowl of glass grapes on my table and maybe even decorate with a faux Spanish/Mediterranean theme, like the lady next door. Her husband drove a truck for Tom's Snacks. I think he went around and filled vending machines. They were newlyweds, in a brand new house and she had a big "canvas" of herself in her wedding dress on a wall in her living room.

She looked like a model to me and spent most of the day tanning herself on a chaise longue outside between our two houses. I simply cannot imagine what that life would have been like but I was sure THAT was where I was headed. I would have glass doo-dads on little shelves. Even if I thought the form was ugly, there was beauty in the color and the way light loved the glass.

Mom called them dust catchers. Now I know why.