I spent the evening a few weeks ago with the daughter of a good friend...she and her father have recently moved to Bolivia, his childhood home...they had returned to Sacramento to ready a lifetime of belongings for shipment...
After two months of hard work, my friend had cleared out and rented his home, sold his car and crated his considerable collection of art, his own and others...the shipping company had arrived and...like solving a Chinese puzzle...had squeezed his entire household into a single cargo container that has likely arrived in the last few days...
Before leaving he handed me this beautiful, hand-carved wooden candlestick and candle...telling me it had come from Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
Hand-carved candlestick from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia...
Vivid, enchanting and uniquely original, the candlestick evokes memories of his daughter each time I see it...my short time with her reminded me of the effusiveness...the exuberance...of youth...she is a charming young woman with an eccentric style entirely her own...who showed me in a single evening how, despite my intention to remain young at heart, I have lost some of my youthful inquisitiveness...
And now I look at the candlestick and immediately feel more playful and alive...