the pencil is mightier...

My dad has a sweet, earnest, and uncontrollable habit of buying things for my mom and I while he's out fleamarketing (and antiquing and swapmeeting. Sorry, spellcheck, I'm doing it anyway). We were out to lunch together this week, and he started fishing around in his shirt pocket like he had something to give me. I wondered what was going to emerge -- who could say? Would it be an old nickel dispenser from the '20s? No, that was a few weeks ago. A note from my tax guy? A new title for my car? A small odometer from a rare British motorcycle in the '70s?

Nope, none of that-- Instead, he handed me this pretty little sheath, decorated with mosaic. I used to collect mosaics -- I loved the intricate details, fun shapes and colors, and it gave me a way to participate in the family perusals through antique malls.

And then he showed me this.

I'm in love with it. It's so delicate and covert -- it makes me think of Jane Austen, who wrote brilliant, lengthy novels on tiny sheets of paper.

She was careful that her occupation should not be suspected by servants, or visitors, or any persons beyond her own family party. She wrote upon small sheets of paper which could easily be put away, or covered with a piece of blotting paper. There was, between the front door and the offices, a swing door which creaked when it was opened; but she objected to having this little inconvenience remedied, because it gave her notice when anyone was coming.

(source)

I would love to turn this little artifact into a necklace -- and may yet do that -- but I'm a little afraid the pencil would fall out. Still, it's an amazing little piece, and it'll remind me of the hobby I adopted with my dad, and the reasons we love antiques. They're a good reminder that life wasn't always the way it is now, and people adapted and invented and conceived of innumerable ideas -- always. From rocks scratching on walls, to pencils in mosaic sheaths, to clicky Sharpies and fingers clicking on keyboards (or phone screens) -- we're quite the same, still. Just -- now we stare at screens all day, while years ago, people built pyramids.