California, San Diego. I left school. She continued on and earned her Phd, went to Prague on a Fulbright the year I moved East and then by some crazy serendipity, she settled in Boston with her husband David and landed a teaching post at UMass Lowell. Besides our friendship, our most common denominator here in New England is our California roots. We both still miss the smells of Acacia, Star Jasmine, wild sage and rosemary, the sights of magenta blooming succulents that blanket the hills above the 405 freeway, the whipped up grape colored bouganvillea arbors over alley walls and the extreme pleasure of swimming the backside of the Children's Pool in La Jolla.
We have both acclimated to New England and we'll probably never move back, which makes me even more grateful that I'll have her close by as the years go on.
Besides her teaching and writing talents, Marlowe is also an artist- her stained glass mosaics keep astonishing me. ortsandfragments.blogspot.com
I've worn clothes she designed for me, I've been the recipient of her knitting projects, and sold her felted soaps in my shop. I revere her. I love her.
But I shamelessly destroyed a little knitted shoulder warmer she gave me last year to pillage the beautiful yarns that didn't itch. I had a vision for a hat. Which may never materialize. It took me three hours to extricate what I wanted to keep.
Here is before:
here is after:
You'll notice the button in the top photo. I chose this as the fastener from an extensive button collection. It will find it's way onto my new hat.
I could feel guilty about ravishing the little stole; except that I know Marlowe would do the same. She's like a little universe: flinging out her creations non stop. Lucky me.
5 comments:
What a lovely tribute to friendship. Marlowe sounds wonderfully creative!
You make me miss California.
I've seen Marlowe comment and I know you've mentioned her--I think she picked up the lamb from Maine--but I guess I really never knew who she was. It must be nice when you're a transplant to have that connection to home.
I looked at her blog and I love her stained glass work. Very pretty.
You'll have to show me this felted soap. Very intriguing.
Way to make a girl weep with gratitude and shyness, Miss Shelley! I'm delighted that you took the shawl apart; more importantly, your choice of words for the act (ravishing) makes me week in the knees.
Devotedly,
M
Lucky you and lucky Marlowe to have this wonderful connection. I'm very impressed that you were able to unravel the yarns.
that would be "weak" in the knees -- though I'm trying to make something out of the typo!
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