Theme Thursday - Bell

Distances

Swifts turn in the heights of the air;
higher still turn the invisible stars.
When day withdraws to the ends of the earth
their fires shine on a dark expanse of sand.

We live in a world of motion and distance.
The heart flies from tree to bird,
from bird to distant star,
from star to love; and love grows
in the quiet house, turning and working,
servant of thought, a lamp held in one hand.

~ Philippe Jaccottet ~

This week Theme Thursday's Theme is Bells.  I am a little early, c'est la vie!

I have always been an environmetalist at heart but not necessarily very good at it.  I am conscientious about what I do not buy, and try to recycle as much as I can.  Making the switch over from plastic bags at shops to canvas bags really made me notice how one action by one household can make such a difference.  The recent Indian Winter series of documentaries on the BBC  which focused on the slums of Mumbai and how entire families will work a whole day on the recycling dumps for the rest of the world, for a single meal  has driven it home to me that recycling really is not enough.   Most of these places do not have any sanitation or running water and infections are high.  The families working in these conditions would probably be better off in a sweat shop where at least they would take home a wage and have use of a bathroom. I am opposed to sweat shops and a supporter of 'worker behind the label'.

The connection to Bells is that my favourite objects to upcycle right now are whiskey boxes.  They have the best size and shape although I have been upcycling anything I can get my hands on from  cocoa tins to pringle tubes.  Often, I do these projects in front of the telly when I am too tired to make felt or read a book. I like to write poetry on some of these tubes.  Above you will see one of the tubes has been inscribed with the mesmorising verses of Philippe Jaccottet.  All in all, I don't worry too much about these projects being a piece of art.  Aesthetic is good enough for me.  I find the verse, colour and patterns that evolve  meditatitive.

To see other interpretations of this theme please visit my friends at Theme Thursday.