Friday, March 16, 2012

Spring Is Here in South Georgia!

Royal Crown Chantilly Rose 3-Section Tray

The azaleas are in full bloom here.  They are gorgeous!  The jasmine will bloom soon and.... achoo!  (Sorry, it's the pollen.)  As I was saying, the jasmine will soon fill the air with its sweet scent and .... achoo - damn pollen!  Now, where was I?  Oh yes, the wonders of spring here in deep south Georgia:  our cars are covered in pollen at the end of each day and we're already running the central air.  You see, we have two seasons here:  a long, long, hot summer and a short, short winter.  We have spring and fall, too, but only one day for each.  But I digress.

When the earth begins to bring forth new foliage and things begin to turn green, I grow nostalgic.  Since I have been going through the treasures my grandmother left to me, I have been thinking about how I viewed so many of them when I was young and how I see them now.  When I was growing up, I thought of many of her things as tacky and cheap (for example, the Chantilly Rose tray pictured above) because they were "old fashioned."   We were poor and I thought of her display pieces as reminders that we couldn't buy new stuff.  I am amazed to realize that I was a snob of sorts and that her collections are wonderful!  And I didn't realize how much had been passed down from her mother.

This brings me to my point about nostalgia.  I won't be selling some of her pieces even though I have no one to leave them to.  The pieces I am keeping bring warm nostalgic feelings and memories of Mama (my grandmother, who also raised me), going home for weekend visits, and special occasions when we used vintage glass serving pieces.  When I think of how casual I was when I washed those vintage pieces, it scares me half to death!

Parting with most of Mama's collection isn't easy, but having no descendants to whom I can leave them, I hope that purchasers will care for them and enjoy them.  And perhaps they will bring wonderful memories to some!

Now if I could just get to the mailbox and back without choking to death on the pollen on this wonderful spring day (the temperature is already in the high 80's).  Oh yes, spring has come and gone!  It's summer now down here.

My eCrater Store

1 comment:

Linda said...

That pieces is so frilly and girly. I guess we all were a little casual and unappreciative when we were growing up. Better late than never. You have some wonderful treasures!