“If you know the name of a tree or an animal and the story its name tells, that’s the start of a relationship with that creature.” - Hastings, Cherokee Earth Dwellers
I spent the rest of the afternoon puttering around the house, getting to know its nooks and crannies and the many and diverse hobbies and collections with which D and Richard had filled their lives. I discovered, for example, that all the plates, bowls, cups and saucers had been made of wild clay by Richard. Likewise there were a couple of very large, decorative vases filled with dried Eucalyptus and Pampas Grass in the living room and a small sculpture of a cupped hand holding semi-precious stones on a shelf in the loft. Each piece had the Cherokee symbol for the four directions with Richard’s initials carved into its base.
Evidence of D’s eclectic interests were everywhere as well, including a floor to ceiling bookshelf in the den filled with books on everything from astrophysics, the flora and fauna of the Appalachian mountains, and British poetry to Alfred Lansing’s book about Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated voyage to Antarctica and Cherokee myths and legends. I also found boxes of slide carousels and a collection of photo scrapbooks with printed images in plastic sleeves. Most of the photos were of plants, animals, and Light House landscapes, but one, tucked behind the others in the bottom corner of the bookshelf contained black and white studies of Richard.
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