Fragile 9-14-2007

September 14, 2007 | Filed Under Flowers, Family 

The following post is something that I wrote a very long time ago. However, it seems to fit so well with the photograph that I took earlier this summer. So for me the words are still “fragile”:

I have a paperweight that is very special to me. I saw it at a craft fair and was fascinated by it. My Mother, being perceptive, purchased it and surprised me with it at Christmas.

It is made of resin, instead of the usual glass paperweight. Inside of this clear plastic is a perfectly preserved seed head of a mature dandelion. It is about two inches in diameter, and it is shaped like a small dome with a flat base. The bottom is painted black, but the remainder of the object is clear.

Light penetrates the dome so that I can view every minute detail of the seed-head against the dark black background. the feathery wings seem to touch the outside walls of the dome. They appear to have motion as I rotate the paperweight in the sunlight.

Actually, the seed head is not perfectly preserved. Two of the tiny seeds have broken loose from their base. Also the plastic contains several tiny air bubbles. This only reminds me that neither man’s products nor nature are perfect. However, even in the most common weed there seems to be a very perfect plan. I read once that the dandelion is a very unique architectural design.

I also love this paperweight because it reminds me that even things that are very common and ordinary are infinitely fragile. What is more fragile or fleeting than a ripe dandelion head on a windy spring day? Possibly only life is more fragile, or the lives of my two children, or my own childhood. I gaze into my clear crystal ball, and magically I am blown by the wind down memory lane.  by Lois Adomite

 

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