Saturday, September 25, 2010

The Lure of Boxes


I seem to have accumulated an assortment of boxes. Most have been given to me; some I've chosen. I'm drawn to them. Like books, they suggest treasures within. You might find anything at all.  Mine don't hold treasures, though--or at least not ones valuable to anyone but me; often it is the box itself that is the treasure.

The above three boxes were all gifts. The cloth-covered one on the bottom, with the moons, was from my daughter when Walk Two Moons received the Newbery Medal.  The middle wooden box with decorative inlays was, I think, once my husband's and it once held chess pieces, but the pieces are now gone and the box now belongs in my office and holds pens.  The top box is velvet with a silver top and was a gift from the founder of the European schools in which we worked for twenty years. 


I love the above three manuscript boxes (wood with Liberty paper overlay); they've been in constant use since my husband bought them in London and gave them to me in 1990. The small pencil box on top is from Florence, Italy, and holds . . .pencils.

8 comments:

  1. Oops, I wasn't nearly finished, but I guess I will just continue in a part two. . .

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  2. I love these boxes and don't own anything quite like them.

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  3. Well, phooey! I just wrote a comment & it refused to be posted. Let's try this again! Anyway, I said that I thought I was the only person who considers a box the real treasure! LOVE yours! My favorite is your husband's former chess piece holder, though they are all wonderful! I'll be back to read Part Two of your post!

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  4. We once received a Christmas gift in a cardboard box with the most wonderful hand drawing on it. The box had been used to mail things by several people and by the time it reached us it was in pretty ragged shape and beyond putting in the mail again. But we so cherished the little drawing on the box that we kept the box for years and years. I completely get your attraction to boxes.

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  5. I love boxes, too! I'm always buying ones I love and then getting home and trying to figure out what to put in them. Ha! I also think it's wonderful to keep ordinary old things (like bills or your dog's allergy pills) in beautiful boxes. Makes them seem so much more interesting.

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  6. Shalom Sharon.
    Boxes do help to establish order. Today I start the big desk and pile clean-up, and now I just found your post about it. But YOU actually finished!
    I'm glad you like the reflection in our neighboring monastery. Thanks for your nice comment.
    If your new book's setting is in Switzerland, I will have to read it. I loved living near Neuchatel in 2002-3.

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  7. Dina: the most recent book, THE UNFINISHED ANGEL, is set in Switzerland, as is a previous one, BLOOMABILITY.
    All: Thanks for visiting.

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  8. What a fascinating blog you have!

    I too have had quite a few boxes over the years. Lost most of them in the '83 bushfire when everything was cremated. Have gathered a clutch since then, mainly oriental calligraphy and the occasional music box. Mostly I miss my lovely Chinese camphor-wood box for its moth proofing quality.

    Now I give most things away and collect roses instead.

    So nice to see you on my blog. Thank you.

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