Amethyst Orb

Perhaps you have seen this marble before. It\’s my favorite. (Well, it\’s the only one, but I wouldn\’t want to imply that I\’ve lost all the others.) This is a hand blown amethyst marble.

Bryce (Briz-NICE) is the brilliant one who generously guided me on rock-out(ing)s. He was kneeling over to inspect some stone while I stood over him, focused in the periphery, that is, slightly unfocused. I looked down at my feet and the color, the lines – it stuck out, that perfect little circle, it was probably trash, but then it wasn\’t. It was beautiful! It had been beating around bushes on the North Colorado plain for perhaps one hundred and fifty years! It was waiting to be found. It found me. I\’ve been in love ever since.

Bryce said that this is an artifact from colonial times – i.e. settlers in wagons! It was formed by heating an amethyst cord and cutting off a piece that is allowed to roll down a spiral shoot, thus finding its shape. I think that is lovely and poetic.

I just didn\’t realize how profound my favorite find was until a couple of days ago while ruminating over old scrapbooks. I was reading about my travel adventures on the Big Sur Coast in the summer of 2003. It was there, overlooking the ocean, by the light of a campfire that I hesitantly embarked upon my first vision quest. I was seasoned to go and found my guide: a spider (A spider? [Yeah, that\’s what I said!]) Spider was friendly enough and scuttled off expecting me to follow. Spider led to lands unknown. I hardly knew how real this journey would become, but I took the messages to heart and so of course they are in my presence. While traveling I picked up a stick and a marble.

In 2006, I found that marble. Now, I know. Wow.

Just an FYI: the altar that the marble rests on is my great grandmother Goldie\’s wedding ring. I feel so blessed to be the caretaker of such a remarkable family heirloom. It is so tiny that it only fits on my pinky finger. Engraved on the inside it reads: CEO and CLT Aug 14 1902.
(Charles Elwood Oliver and Caroline Laporte Taylor. When I found the marble I was living on Laporte Avenue. Great Grandma Goldie and I share the same birthday: September 7th. )