Wishing and hoping

Last summer, I wandered through the shops on the main street in Franklin, PA, a town that remained vibrant for many years, even while manufacturing jobs disappeared from this northwest corner of the state. But many storefronts now stand vacant. Those that remain are dollar stores, thrift stores, antique shops, and a few crafters coops.

I bought this pair of cranes at one of the craft markets. As I recall, they cost $7.00. Handmade cranes hovering above handmade dipyramids (aka triangular bipyramids, or hexahedrons). Whatever it was that I paid, it was not enough to pay for the materials, to pay the craftsperson a living wage, to pay the rent and utilities on the shop. I worry that this shop will be gone when I return this year, along with the jewelery and stationery and book and shoe and clothing and housewares shops I saw just a few years ago. I hope it will still be there...

I wore them today for my last full day of school, a day full of hopes for the future and a few "what might have been?" wonderings. We never got around to building models of Platonic Solids this year. (These earrings are not quite Platonic solids... but close!) Today disappeared as we watched the Fractured Fairy Tale movies made by our 2nd grade, as next year's students visited our classroom, as my class played their stringed instruments for the 2nd grade. My students packed their bags full of notebooks, time capsules, puppet show scenery, beading looms, and assorted other memories of our year together.

Maybe next year when I wear these earrings, we'll make those Platonic Solids. Next year...