4 X 4 Array

Today's earrings are an interwoven pattern of many threads of my life. Blues, the colors that sooth my soul. Geometric balance, squares on squares, so pleasing to my eye. A multiplicative array, 4 x 4, touching on the topic of today's 3rd grade math lesson: perfect squares; 16 a square number, 17 a prime. And closest of all to my heart, they were bought for me by husband as a gift for his parents, aged 84 and 89 to give me this Christmas. My mother-in-law and I share a love of blue. My father-in-law loves geometry and design. Earrings and a matching scarf. Such a gift to treasure.

Some of my favorite earrings are made of recycled cardboard, like this pair that came from a craft fair.  After wandering through the entire fair, I decided to spend my earring budget on this pair with colors I love together. The artist had made hundreds of pairs, in a myriad of color combinations and a tantalizing array of shapes and sizes. Craft fairs offer that delicious opportunity to admire, to covet, and then to make a choice. One pair from among thousands.

A True Posting

Only rarely do I wear posts rather than dangling earrings. But after seeing ammonites at the Museum of Natural History yesterday,  this morning I sought out this pair that I bought at a National Science Teachers Association convention in Boston 10 or 15 years ago. (How I used to laugh at my dad when he made estimates like that, when 10 years was my age, and 15 years was half again as much!) After a childhood spent avoiding my dad's enthusiasm for rocks, minerals,and fossils, I have come to love exploring geology. These stone spirals were once homes to squidlike animals-- hundreds of millions of years ago!

Why dangle rather than post? My ear lobes were prone to infection, which posts seemed to breed. My family doctor once told me in no uncertain terms that I should let those barbaric holes close up if I wanted to be free of infection. Instead, I stopped wearing posts.

My ammonites are resting on another ancient relic: a sweater I knit of Icelandic wool some 30 years ago. I pull it out of the cedar chest to wear every year on a chilly winter day. As I aimed the camera, Maia kept nudging my arm aside. When she finally lay down, I snapped this photo.

Preserved in Amber

I started teaching middle school science just after Jurassic Park was released in 1993, and I bought my first pair of amber earrings at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History the next spring. Dinosaur DNA provided a great hook for my students; I search for earrings that contain the wings or legs of insects to wear when talking about fossils and evolution.

Today I am heading to DC to visit the museum again, this time to see the display about the evolution of the horse, in preparation for my school's cultural study of Spain this spring. The Spanish reintroduced horses to the Americas in the 1500's. But those horses are descendants of equines that evolved on this continent during a time that horses became extinct in the Old World. Our horses migrated back across the Bering land bridge to repopulate Asia and Europe. I love the opportunity to explore the themes of immigration, evolution, and climate change with children.

One summer, maybe 10 years ago, Käthe and I took a one day jewelry class at the Sawmill Center in Cook Forest. I had bought a pair of delicately balanced earrings at the craft market ($5, I think; someone's labor of love) and I wanted to try to make similar ones myself.

Our creative and knowledgeable instructor, who sadly lacked tact or good humor, thought my efforts only slightly less futile than my purchase was foolish; over lunch I reminded Käthe of my granddaddy Bedell's admonition: Be kind to those who offend; their shoes are most likely too tight.

Blueberry beads,
fruits of a long ago summer,
worn to match a sweater
knit with love
for one who outgrew it
even longer ago.

My Collection

How did I come to own so many earrings? At some point in the last twenty years, I started seeking earrings that correlated with topics I teach. Science teaching offered such a wealth of inspiration! And as my collection grew, contributions followed.

Although my husband John often sighs, "You have enough earrings...," it is now said in playful anticipation of my reply, "I could never have enough earrings." For me, earrings have become symbolic of the fullness of life. Through each pair, I remember the giver or the seller; I recall where I received the gift or made the purchase. Almost daily, someone (often a student) asks about my earrings, allowing me to reminisce about lessons taught, about field trips and vacations, about students, friends, and family members.

Today, my choice was a challenge, since today I am at home and have no plans to venture out. I don't want to wear a pair that some other one of the year's 364 days would merit. Today is 1/1/11; I briefly searched for vertical 1-like earrings. Then my gaze alighted on a wavy pair punctuated with aqua, blue and purple seed beads, made for me by my daughter Käthe one summer afternoon when we sat together in the shade of a white pine at our picnic table. They dangle from my ears, each a thin wire that meanders, dotted with my favorite colors, hopeful emblems of the year ahead.