Will it last?

I spent all Friday cleaning off my desk. Actually, it just took a minute or two to clear off my desk, but it took most of the day to go through the pile I had created on the floor. I admit there are still some things to be filed but most of it is taken care of. So here's what's on the desk.

To the left--a gorgeous bouquet Dad got me for Valentine's Day. Purple roses, pink lilies, some alstromeria, and some purple, daisy-like chrysanthemums.

In front of the computer--some things that I like to look at. From left, a Russian enamel box that I gave Grandma a long time ago and she recently gave me back. (She said she wanted to make sure it didn't accidentally go to Sylvia or Jan.) It has an illustration of the Russian Fairy tale, The Firebird, on the top. Russian fairy tales are very weird, but I love the painting. Next is a crystal perfume bottle Sylvia gave me. It's really quite lovely. Next a carnelian. It's a stone. Maybe you remember the line from "Amahl and the Night Visitors," " . . . one carnelian, against all evil and envy . . . " (from the "This is my Box" song--the verse about my magic stones). Then comes the Isaiah paperweight (bought in a store at Ghirardelli Square in SF, made from ash from the Mount St. Helens eruption, it reminded me of the Isaiah scripture talking about the atonement bringing "beauty from ashes"). Finally, on the right is the bottle containing all the sea glass and shell pieces that kids B through H collected on the beach in Acapulco.

On the right, my "desk garden" with a pothos plant in the back, a pot with cyclamen, ivy, and a fern, and then four blooming African violets.

I'm enjoying it tremendously. I really hope to keep it that way. And maybe it will inspire some productive writing time, ya think? One can only hope.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Love, Mom