An Element-ary Day

Today was an elemental sort of day, so I wore these hammered copper earrings. The maker attached them to the ear wires with a welded twist of copper wire. Basic. Cu, Atomic number 29. Known to the ancients. Named for the island of Cyprus where it was abundant. I've always loved copper, the reddish-orange metal which turns blue-green when it oxidizes.

My husband John and I spent many hours working with other elemental materials (sand, clay, soil, and water) to build our Earth Oven. First the sand mound, shown here covered with samp newspaper. John is mixing the next layer, the real oven layer, which we built over the sand mound. Once the outside dries, we will remove the sand mound, creating the open space in which we will bake.

We struggled a bit to find the right consistency so that the mud would not slump. The elemental virtue, patience, came into play.

We're hoping to enjoy bread, the staff of life, baked in our Earth Oven before the summer's over.