Stories in Beads

Sometimes in an old home or in just any room, I wonder about the people who inhabited a space, the stories told and absorbed by ears and walls, the memories made with others. I sometimes mutter, "If these walls could speak..." and ponder just what tales they could tale.

I feel the same about the antique beads that arrived today from Beadniks in Brattleboro, Vermont. Indeed, these beads have stories. The Venetian red eye beads are thought to offer protection from evil, and I have fingered them reverently. The Venetian green heart beads (lower left) do have tiny heart-like shapes in their glass forms. Who made them in the 1600s? How did they come so far from home? The bright Dutch glass mellon beads have streaks of red, blue, and white, representing the Dutch flag. Made a century later, their lemony color is in stark contrast to the Italian beads. What stories could they tell?

I look forward to imagining as I share them with friends and family.