Gourd Vase

Southwest On My Mind

This one isn't from our southwest home, but when I saw it at the Goodwill store, I didn’t think.

I didn’t say a word. 

I simply grabbed it and took it home.  

It’s not fancy. 

Just a dried-up, naturally hollow gourd. Its simple, graceful lines make it perfect for use as a vase. With line etchings of the sun, a turtle, a mountain, gecko, a deer. 

Very southwest.

I just knew that it would be an amazing centerpiece.

Here was what I did. 

Start with a doily made from Golden Tips of Darjeeling Tea packaging. 

Add faux feathers, fuzzy cattail seed heads, and brown berry picks.  Then tuck in straw-like leaves, letting them bend whichever way they want.

Or adorn with feathered yarn and style it on a tumbling block riser (both DIY-ed).

Let spring do the rest.

It’s so simple that it takes my breath away.

And the message?

Life is simple. 

You thrive on maize corn that is cultivated in irrigated fields in river bottoms. Women gather wild plants to eat. Men hunt deer and antelope. 

Harvest is plentiful.

Life is beautiful.

And rain comes when you dance.

(To be continued)