"Weavers Words" Vol. 6 Iss. 04 MADE IN AMERICA BY A PROUD AMERICAN!!! Date Sent: May 21, 2002 Back Issues: http://www.angelfire.com/art/weaverswords/ David Collins 408 North Devon Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219 Phone: (317) 899-5747 davidc@iei.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% PLEASE DO YOUR PART AND DONATE TO SOME REAL HEROES!!! New York Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund PO Box 65858 Washington D.C. 20035-5858 http://daily.iaff.org/fund.htm New York State Fraternal Order of Police 911 Police Plaza World Trade Centers Fund Hicksville, NY 11801 http://www.nysfop.org/WTCdisaster/Fund.html ALSO, DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT YOU LOCAL FIRE & POLICE DEPARTMENTS!!! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ATTENTION NEW SUBSCRIBERS: 1.) Back issues of Weaver's Words can be found at: http://www.angelfire.com/art/weaverswords/ 2.) If you are new to Weaver's Words, more than likely you will read messages about a basket swap in progress. Basket swaps are organized by other weavers approximately every 2-3 months. So if a swap is in progress when you subscribe, be patient and a new swap will begin before you know it. Every subscriber is eligible for each swap as long as you fulfill you obligation from the previous swap. 3.) You can order a copy of the "Basketry Travel Companion", your guide to basket shops, galleries, exhibits and much more across the United States and world wide, by sending me $15.00 via PayPal (a free service) at: http://www.paypal.com/ (Send Payment To ka9zre@yahoo.com) OR Via money order / check at: David Collins 408 North Devon Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BEFORE POSTING VIRUS WARNINGS TO WEAVER'S WORDS!!! Check The Following Link To Assure The Virus Isn't A Hoax: http://urbanlegends.about.com/ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Hi Everyone, If you didn't notice Weaver's Words just celebrated its 5th anniversary. That's why the volume number changed from 5 to 6. I have a special request of everyone out there. I'm putting together a Basket Bookstore on Weaver's Word web page. If you purchase anything through Amazon.com, basketry related or otherwise, please do so by going through the following link. http://www.angelfire.com/art/weaverswords/basket.html So far I have 45 basketry books listed. If you know of any basketry books that aren't on the site, please let me know what they are so I can add them. Amazon will give me 15% of all purchases made through my site. For me to qualify for the 15% commission, all you have to do is click on one of the book covers OR use the Amazon search box located at the top of the page. You can see the basketry books list and the Amazon search box by clicking on the following link: http://www.angelfire.com/art/weaverswords/basket.html Besides books Amazon.com is a GREAT source for CD's, VHS's, DVD's, Video Games, Electronics and much more. I greatly appreciate you support in this opportunity. If you're going to purchase something from Amazon, you might as well pass along 15% my way. :-) PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/art/weaverswords/basket.html Take Care, David %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: [weaverswords] "Weavers Words" V. 6 I. 03 Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 22:01:06 -0400 From: "Ruthanne M.S. Morningstar" To: weaverswords-owner@yahoogroups.com Hi Weaver's Words Weavers, I, too, am ready to see this conversation end. Let it be noted, however, that the word "rude" is not one I have used regarding Carol Antrim, or anyone else on Weaver's Words for that matter. For the record, I have never met Carol, nor have we ever corresponded on any matter, including this one. Neither do I have any objection to my basket appearing on her website, so long as the design is credited to me now that she knows from whence it came. Ruthanne Morningstar still looking for the sunshine in Dryden, Michigan! Ruthanne M.S. Morningstar 'The Electronic Woman' %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: More Basket Adventures Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 21:34:38 EDT From: Linhebert@aol.com To: ka9zre@yahoo.com To All Who Wanted More Basket Adventures: Last week was our Basket Class Online. It was held at herHobbies.com and was so much fun! Attendance was low, but I still plan to do it again. As I told one of the herHobbies ladies, I attended online Computer Camp at AOL last summer and even those classes had low numbers... even if they were regional in scope - which I don't think they were. (So if AOL doesn't expect a big crowd, no one else should either. People like to zip around the net, I think.) In any event, if such a class interests you, be sure to sign up for our online newsletter at basketweaving.com. That's where we announce upcoming classes. Another adventure: I had the BEST time teaching twill patterned footstools to 5th grade Boy Scouts! We did them in 5/8" flat smoked reed and the boys completed them in one 2-hour session after school. Just in time for Mother's Day too. Hoping You All Had An Enjoyable Mother's Day, Linda Hebert V. I. Reed & Cane http://www.basketweaving.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Indy Convention Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 09:01:53 -0400 From: "Roman Monastyrski" To: "ka9zre" Greetings All, I'm FINALLY catching up from being away from home for 5 days. Can a husband and little boy REALLY make such a mess - REALLY NOT see the stuff on the floor??? Anyway Indiana Basket Convention was WONDERFUL. My classes were awesome and the teachers - Super. This was my first class with Susan Coyle and her hubby. I took a small version of the lidded Great Lakes picnic basket - Indian Tupperware, if you will. What a fun class. Susan kept up moving throughout the 6-hour class with stories and even a treat after lunch. It was a full class, but all got good attention and finished with very nice baskets. I have strayed from reed baskets for a while, and it felt really good to be back. My second class was an all level/beginner willow class with Sandy Whalen. Talk about a prepared teacher. And NO, it was not more difficult to weave willow, than round reed. In fact, I overcompensated and wound up with quite a small base - but Sandy had me flare the sides a bit to balance. I've never being satisfied with just one type of basket and really enjoyed and will weave more willow in the future. I am so impressed with the quality of teachers we have in Indiana convention. The keynote speakers were Bill and Kathy Halter of Royalwood. What humble and understated - delightful people. Not only did we have a fantastic slide show of their travels around the world, but their exhibit in the exhibit room was museum quality. And now I must get back to real world of washing sheets and end of year band concerts and activities. But maybe tomorrow I can dig out a kit I bought at convention and reflect on the good memories of Indiana Basket Convention 2002. Happy Weaving - Kristin from COLD Midland MI %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: [weaverswords] "Weavers Words" V. 6 I. 03 Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 08:55:51 EDT From: KZANEBSKT@aol.com To: weaverswords-owner@yahoogroups.com Congratulations David on six years of Weavers Word. Thank you for your time and talent. IBA Convention was a good time and I want to thank all who help make it a success. It takes a lot of hard work and time to put on a convention and the committee did a wonderful job this year. This is a little late but I have been on the road. I want to also thank the North Carolina convention committee. It was my first NCBA convention and I felt every welcome and enjoyed my stay. The spring weather was wonderful. When returning home to an ice storm, it was nice to know that spring was not far behind. I still have a couple of openings for the NASHVILLE BASKET RETREAT. We will be making the 36 rib baskets from the beginning and staying at the Colony Inn. For more information contact me. Looking forward to Missouri and Central Pennsylvania conventions and making new friends. Happy Weaving, Karen Zane Karen Zane 521 N Buckingham CT Anderson IN 46013 765 622 9812 www.karensbaskets.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Thank You Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 08:27:05 -0400 From: "Helen Schwartz" To: ka9zre@yahoo.com I lost the return address of the generous basket weaver who sent me the Carpal Tunnel Exercises. I would like to say thank you. They have made a great difference in my life. I do them at least once a day and, whenever my hands begin to complain the exercises relieve the symptoms. I am passing them on to all interested parties including my dental hygienist, leading stretches at basket workshops, and there are a lot of happy hands as a result. Again, Thanks. Helen Schwartz who is cheerfully weaving away in cold damp Princeton. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Heritage Guild's Mid Summer Weave Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 9:35 AM From: Bonnie Easterbrooks To: davidc@iei.net This summer the Heritage Basketry Guild of Dayton, OH will be hosting their Second Annual "Mid-Summer Weave". It will be held at the Community Methodist Church on Saturday, July 13, 2002. There are classes still available. Visit http://www.geocities.com/midsummerweave/ to view the baskets offered. The NO FAIL CAT of Gail Hutchinson and the OVAL LIDDED BASKET of Julie Kleinrath are now full. For more information or to obtain the brochure of the event, please contact Bonnie Easterbrooks evergree@erinet.com. Please mark your calendar. We would love to have you join us for a day of fellowship and weaving! Regards, Bonnie Easterbrooks %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Good To Be Back Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 12:08 PM From: Judy Mullins To: Hi David & Fellow Basket Weavers, I've been gone from WW for over a year. I got away from basket weaving, due to a lot of other obligations, but now I'm back. I just wanted to tell anyone in my general area of Lexington, Cincinnati, or Louisville to stop by and visit me at the Dry Ridge Outlet Center, Dry Ridge, KY I-75 Exit 159. I am now the director of tourism, and our office is in the outlet center, next to the GNC store. We have a beautiful selection of handmade KY baskets, my herbal soap, fine woodworking products, artwork, quilts, pottery, and the lists goes on & on. We are proud to have all handmade KY arts & crafts. It's so rare in today's time to find a place to buy USA products. We also have two or three basket weaving or chair weaving workshops per month. If anyone is interested in a class, our phone number is: 859-824-3451, If I'm not there, just leave your name and phone number with one of the other ladies. I hope to hear from lots of basket weaving friends. If anyone reading this in our area teaches the Nantucket basket, please get in touch. Until next time, this is Judy Mullins in Grant County Kentucky where it's raining cats and dogs, and getting colder into the 40's tonight. ===== To Rent Mullins Log Cabin Call 859-824-0565 http://logcabin1999.tripod.com/ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Hi Everyone Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 20:06:17 -0400 From: "drpain" To: "weaverswords-owner@yahoogroups.com" Glad to hear that is the 6th year. I started with the list when Shirley Reed started. I just got back from the Bahamas. It was interesting to watch the ladies weave on the baskets. I got to meet with an elder who was 97 years old. Purchased some of her work. Never have enough baskets in the house. I am going to Wisconsin in July anyone know of some basket shops. Or music shops that is my other love. Headed for Bardstown Kentucky in June. I am teaching a week of basketry classes there. Anyone wanting info can contact me. pinelandsfolk.com is our website. Hope everyone is getting ready for a hot summer. The pool is open and I already have started on my tan. If you're coming near NJ this summer email us. Take Care, njweaver2 Mary Carty In rainy South Jersey. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Stuff Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 22:12:55 -0500 From: "Tony Stubblefield" To: "David Collins" OK, let's try this again. I thought I would start a Word file of all the great books people mention and then I immediately forget about. I had just written a couple of nice responses and had read down to Bert's note about the handle book when I decided to opened Word only to have my computer lockup! Oh well, here we go again. Ruthanne - about IBA convention - Thanks for the update. I didn't get to go to the visitor's day like I have in the past. I had a prior engagement and couldn't make it this time. I was sad about it, but my wallet wasn't! Glad to hear your class went well. I am going to miss the MBG this year too. It always falls on the same weekend I have a family obligation. I have only ever gotten to go once, in 2000, when it fell on a week earlier than normal. I won't even be in town to shop the vendors:-((again my wallet will be happier. Pam - about Lehigh Valley Basket Weavers guild - Sounds like you have a fun group. I belong to a St. Louis guild, or at least I think I still do unless I forgot to pay my dues, but we don't really meet that often, maybe every other month. It always seems like I have something going on when we do finally have a meeting and I end up missing. I need to checkout one of the other guilds in the area to see if they meet more often. I am always surprised to hear how active other local guilds are in other states, especially NC. Their local guilds sound as active as our MO state guild. Bert - OK, I got the book you recommended copied and pasted to a text document, so I will have to look for the title later. Jayna - about email block - That seems a rather ridiculous measure on the part of your vendor/acquaintance. The only thing I can think of that might make you feel better is that maybe the vendor has some sort of SPAM blocking software that detects emails with large numbers of addresses and it mistook your forward as SPAM. The whole thing could have been automated and your vendor never even knew what took place. Surely that is what happened. Well, I guess that will do it for me. I think this time I will actually get the email sent before my computer crashes. I would love to buy a new computer, as the one I currently have is about 5 years old and ancient which is computer terms. Unfortunately since I use my computer for high-end graphics and I basically need my computer to match the one I have at work I am looking at about a $3,000.00 machine! I guess I had better get to weaving and selling baskets if I am going to save up the money!! Happy Weaving, Tony Stubblefield St. Louis, MO http://www.JASkets.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: WVBA Teacher Apps. Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 7:01 AM From: To: Just a reminder that teacher submissions for the West Virginia Basketmakers Convention in November are due by May 25, 2002. Anyone interested in applying to teach will need to contact Delores Stutler at: jodeweaver@aol.com. She can send you information. For membership information contact Sharon Sutton at: sasutton@charter.net. Thanks, Sandra Lyons, Coordinator %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Lake Country Basket Fest Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 20:05:00 -0500 From: "Kim Leppin" To: weaverswords-owner@yahoogroups.com, weaverswords@yahoogroups.com To all teachers: anyone wishing to propose to our Basket Fest that hasn't done so already, you now have extra time! There apparently was a mix up; some people thought we were the same weekend as Indiana next year. So that everyone knows we are the weekend before Indy in 2003. It is also our Tenth Anniversary so we want to have some exciting things for the participants. We have extended our due date for proposals till May 30th, 2002. Hope to see you all there! P.S. If you want to propose and haven't received a packet please contact me, Kim Leppin at mleppin@wi.rr.com and I will get one out to you! Kim Leppin in SE Wisconsin where we saw the sun today!!!!!!!!!! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Lake Country Basket Fest, Pewaukee, WI Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 20:57:27 -0500 From: "Kim Leppin" To: weaverswords-owner@yahoogroups.com To All Teachers: anyone wishing to propose to our Basket Fest that hasn't done so already, you now have extra time! There apparently was a mix up, some people thought we were the same weekend as Indiana next year. So that everyone knows we are the weekend before Indy in 2003. It is also our Tenth Anniversary so we want to have some exciting things for the participants. We have extended our due date for proposals till May 30th, 2002. Hope to see you all there! P.S. If you want to propose and haven't received a packet please contact me, Kim Leppin at mleppin@wi.rr.com and I will get one out to you! Kim Leppin in SE Wisconsin where we saw the sun today!!!!!!!!!! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: New FREE Pattern at Baskets Of Joy! Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 12:52:14 -0400 From: "Baskets Of Joy" To: Undisclosed-Recipient@ MADE FOR MAURINE Nancy Lascelle of New Hampshire designed this basket especially for Maurine in late 2001. Our heartfelt thanks to Nancy, as well as to all our kind customers and suppliers, who offered support and assistance in so many ways during a time of difficulty here at Baskets Of Joy. Maurine is recuperating from that terrible auto accident in leaps and bounds, due in large part to the kind prayers and thoughtfulness of wonderful folks like Nancy. Our gratitude and thanks to all. Weave this sweet little basket for a gift or a keepsake--it's extra-special to us, and we hope you will find it special, too! Click on photo or visit www.basketsofjoy.com today to print out your FREE PATTERN! Our Latest Project with Young People is now available in a kit! Ask for KIT-K01, $12.00 each. Dyed reed varies from kit to kit. Instructions are clear, written for any level of basket maker to help kids ages 8-12 years old to weave this fun project. Our classes with our young neighbors usually only take about 1-1/2 hours! Class List Available OnLine! http://www.basketsofjoy.com/productlist.asp?prod=cls Click here to go to our OnLine Class List--view photos, sign up, read brief descriptions and bios of the teachers. We have some great Summer and Fall classes coming up! NEW PATTERNS AT BASKETS OF JOY!! http://www.basketsofjoy.com/productlist.asp?prod=pat Newest Designs from Baskets Of Joy Melon Basket, PAT-M86, $3.50 For any level of weaver! Maine Market Basket, PAT-M88, $3.50 A Traditional Country Basket We carry everything you need to weave these baskets designed by basketmakers from across the U.S.: Market Trio, PAT-Y223, $4.00 Three little market baskets bursting with color! Williamsburg Market by Jennifer Forsyth, PAT-Y224, $4.00 A nice little rectangular williamsburg. Arrows Swirl Bowl by Carol Tunnicliffe, PAT-Y225, $4.00 Beautiful pattern swirls up the sides. Chasing Twill Oval Bowl by Carol Tunnicliffe, PAT-Y225, $4.00 Wonderful addition to your twill collection! Pie Dreams Pattern by Annetta Kraayeveld, PAT-Y227, $4.00 Two hancle options with color for your next pie basket. South Western Work Basket by Annetta Kraayeveld, PAT-Y228, $3.75 Color in the stakes and weavers makes a lovely pattern. Photos of all these patterns are available. If you would like to see photos of these new patterns, let us know and we'll email you a "Photos included" version of this note. www.basketsofjoy.com BASKETS OF JOY 81 Old Bath Road Brunswick, ME 04011 Customer Service 207-725-5899 Orders 800-377-6097 Fax 207-725-6004 basketsofjoy@basketsofjoy.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 08:15:13 -0500 From: "Mary E Beebe" To: weaverswords-owner@yahoogroups.com Am planning a trip to Seattle at the end of June. Was wondering if there are any good basket shops out there. Would appreciate the information. Thanks! Mary Ellen mebeebe@lakefield.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Basketry Article In The N.Y. Times 5/19/02 Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 2:47 PM From: D2crispin@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net To Hold, Not To Have By ALISON BUCKHOLTZ As tourists - people for whom travel is possible simply because we pay for the experience - we are lulled into a global garage sale mentality. In Japan, where I live part-time, I find myself bargaining with flea market vendors over items that should be displayed in museums. Antique kimono? How much do you want? Edo period Shinto scroll? Would you take any less for that? I've seen this scene repeated, with minute variations, around the world. Whether rattling 19th-century tea sets at a Tokyo bazaar, sifting through Roman coins in the Old City of Jerusalem or haggling down fabrics vendors in Aix-en-Provence, it is axiomatic that, as travelers, we can partake in the cultural riches around us by purchasing them. So when the object you most want is not for sale at any price, a strange new calculus tabulates worth, tests memory, and shifts our contemporary notions of travel. My unhavable objet de travel? A bamboo basket. Its fresh green-and-cream strips wove themselves together in intricate, symmetrical, intersecting patterns; the basket was simultaneously creative, beautiful and functional. Its damp forest perfume wafted through the studio of Hirokawa-san, a master bamboo craftsman living in Ayaseo, a town at the fraying hem of the enormous skirt around metropolitan Tokyo. As part of a small group of American and Japanese women visiting Hirokawa-san's home this spring, I had visualized his bamboo craft studio as a sort of scaled-back Pier One. That was just the first of many mistakes I would make that morning. Hirokawa-san, who is 75 years old, learned bamboo artistry as a boy, looking forward to forays in the woods where he could cut down his own stalks of bamboo, as he still does, with a curved machete. Back in his studio - an open shed next to his house, with a clear view of freshly washed undershirts hanging on the clothesline - he chops the stalks into flat, thin strips. He sits cross-legged on the floor, resting on a thin cushion, and conceives each piece while placing one end of the strip between his teeth and peeling the bamboo down the middle. Now, whether weaving a rice strainer, a set of blinds, or a ceiling inlay, he can alternate between patterns that require the green outer skin or the creamy beige inner flesh. Our group watched as Hirokawa-san, as if braiding hair, interlaced just a few long strips of bamboo to fashion an elaborate centerpiece for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Since he speaks no English, our Japanese companions translated our questions to him. His mediated answers came back to us as spare as his plain tunic, his rough trousers, his two-toed padded socks: "How many other bamboo craftsmen are there?" "In this part of Japan, only me." "In the rest of Japan?" "Two or three." "Did you teach this to your kids?" Quick shake of the head: no. "How many different patterns do you use in your work?" "I could never count them all." "Have you always worked with bamboo?" "It is my hobby. I had another job for money. Now that I am retired I do this because I love it." We Americans were tiptoeing around the one question we had been telegraphing to each other since we set our stockinged feet in the studio. By then we had variously visualized the rice strainer resting on our kitchen counter, the blinds shading our den, the ceiling inlay decorating our foyer. We asked the Japanese women to put to Hirokawa-san another question on our behalf. They glanced at each other nervously and then one said (haltingly, softly) to him, "How much are these?" I didn't hear an answer; a new tension thrumming the air told us we had breached etiquette. He must have gestured or motioned in a way obvious to our companions, who gently informed us that Hirokawa-san never sells his work. He gives away his bamboo creations to family and friends. We looked around the studio, surveying the older pieces - the bowls and baskets and lids and trays hanging on hooks. What about those, we wanted to ask. Can we buy those? But as Americans living on a nearby military base, we knew enough about Japanese culture to continue the conversation along a parallel track, trading in a different currency. "Do you like Budweiser?" one of us asked. (American beer, accessible only on base, is a wildly popular and common gift to Japanese hosts.) But Hirokawa-san does not drink alcohol. In fact, it became clear that there was nothing - really and truly nothing - Hirokawa-san needed or wanted. He embodies, we saw, the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi. Those who speak the language insist that the phrase defies translation, but describe wabi-sabi as a pleasure in natural things; a recognition that beauty is fleeting and imperfect; a reverence for simplicity; the spiritual essence of an object. It can be applied to a tea ceremony or a chipped pot, an orchid bud or a life style. Hirokawa-san and his giveaway baskets helped me finally understand why wabi-sabi can't be rendered in English. And it was equally clear that our time in Japan would not be represented at home by a bamboo rice strainer or bamboo blinds or a bamboo ceiling inlay; that the damp forest perfume mingling with the scent of breeze-dried undershirts on the clothesline would fade as soon as we slid our shoes back on. This is the essence of travel, I reminded myself: meeting someone new, seeing something new, learning something new. I had been silent during most of the centerpiece demonstration, transfixed by the process of turning a solid log into a delicate work of art. Hirokawa-san's alchemy reminded me of that of the Gullah-speaking sweetgrass-basket weavers of the South Carolina coast islands, who spiral together long bands of dried grasses to create pieces now displayed in folk art museums. Though the sweetgrass baskets - "discovered" and celebrated in the last few decades - are now showpieces that sell for hundreds of dollars, the weavers themselves are little known outside the South, in part because Gullah culture prohibits photographs of people. I've seen these basket ladies; as they're called locally, chase offending shutterbugs down the street. To me, the Gullah matrons and Hirokawa-san are kindred spirits, shunning a standard transaction - a photograph of the artist in the first place, money for the artist in the second - and allowing egress to neither flash photography nor Budweiser. Both, our meager attempts at access. But the act of travel itself grants us true access, the ultimate gift from host to guest, and it is more precious and transportable than any basket. I listened to my own lecture as I bowed to Hirokawa-san, noticing for the first time that his left thumb stopped just above the knuckle. Surely an ancient injury: the top of this tiny stump was as thick and padded as a mushroom cap. I had been so focused on the wrong questions throughout the morning. Now that we were leaving, empty-handed, I wanted to know what had happened to his hand. It was too late to ask; he was reaching behind him. He passed to me, and then to each of us, a set of three small bamboo baskets, each nestled snugly within the other. He had made them for us in anticipation of our visit. ALISON BUCKHOLTZ, who writes about travel, divides her time between Japan and Washington. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% That's All For Now Folks. To Post A Message Use: davidc@iei.net or ka9zre@yahoo.com To Subscribe Use: weaverswords-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To Unsubscribe Use: weaverswords-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com