TheBanyanTree: Give-away 1 - novena

[auntie sash]

 I am in the last week of wanagi yuhapi - Lakota "keeping of the soul"
ceremony.  There will be a give away on Sunday after I release the spirit
bundle and I realized that all of my offerings, so carefully selected for
their significance to my mother, would be random and meaningless without
the "back story".

So I decided to tell the back stories and attach them to the items on my
blanket.  And as I write out these little views of my mother, I want to
share them with you as well.

- sash
-------

When we were married, Ed and I wanted the celebration to be unique,
personal, and cheap.  Instead of banks of roses and lilies, we distributed
small handfuls of spring flowers to all our guests – honoring them as the
bouquet of our lives together.  We skipped the blown glass cake topper,
making our own – the "dressed to kill" sharks from Gary Larson's *Far
Side*cartoon.
And for the reception décor, we asked my parents to help us by making the
centerpieces.

Dad used the lathe on his ShopSmith Mark V to turn candle holders from
juniper and cedar.  Simple rounded cones drilled to hold pastel tapers.  Mother
finished them with tung oil to bring out the colorful grain and the rich
smells of the wood, covered the bottoms with felt, and tied a satin ribbon
at the base of each candle.  They were a beautiful and unique H&H Product
(and we saved a lot of money on decorations!)

 Fortunately, the reception lasted just over an hour and the candles looked
beautiful, surrounded by loose flowers on each of the tables.  It wasn't
until we returned from the honeymoon and had one of the candles lit and
burning on a coffee table that we discovered a slight design flaw.  When the
candle burned down to the final 2-3 inches, the lovely pastel ribbon
overheated.  Apparently a cotton-poly blend, the ribbon simultaneously
ignited and melted, raining sticky flames on the oil soaked wood (aka
kindling).  No one was injured, but one of our cats remained hidden under
the bed for quite a while and the house smelled oddly of overheated
Christmas tree from the cedar and melted plastic fumes.

This novena candle matches those that have burned on my mother's altar all
year.  It was not made with the same loving care as our wedding
centerpieces, but it is much safer and is only flammable in the ordinary way
a candle should burn.
- sarahanne 22 april 2008
-- 
My mother had a great deal of trouble with me but I think she enjoyed it.
- Mark Twain