A Loom Of Her Own

By Beck

The Girl has wanted a loom for several years now, despite never having actually seen a loom in person. It was one of those strange, fleeting childhood passions, we thought, and not something that was necessary for us to fulfill. Looms are too expensive and too big to be mere whims.

So she recently started a summertime weaving class, and her teacher confided in my husband last night that The Girl is a natural at weaving – while the other girls fumbled, leaden-handed, with their lulking metal looms, The Girl deftly wove a scarf of gold and fuchsia and sharp green, her hands flying, her face calm.

She is nothing like me, this calm blond person with her dexterous hands, with her talents as seemingly random as a fairy’s gifts. My imagined daughter was dark-haired like me, was sharp tongued and bookish – a person for long winters, a person who could take the chill – and instead I have this child like a gentle summer’s day. I am certainly not disappointed, but I seem to spend my parenthood in a state of pleased surprise. Who are you, I think, and where did you come from?

She is working on a borrowed loom right now. It is very very old – it belonged originally to her teacher’s grandmother-in-law – and it still does its job, without beauty but not without a certain angular elegance. She is coming home arms loaded with blue wool, the blue of cornflowers, of July skies, blues for the scarf she is weaving for a friend, this pretty thing that will grace our house for a moment and then go on. She is bent over the loom, this miniature Fate, this girl in the process of becoming something new, making sheer beauty with her hands.

14 Responses to A Loom Of Her Own
  1. John Ross
    July 15, 2010 | 8:58 pm

    That was very pretty. The girl sounds like a delightful child and it’s good to read of you being so delighted(if befudled) with her.

  2. Nicole
    July 15, 2010 | 9:02 pm

    So lovely! I envy girls like your daughter. I would love to create something beautiful so effortlessly!

  3. Omaha Mama
    July 15, 2010 | 10:04 pm

    What a beautiful post. What a gift she is to you. Ying and yang or something like that. 🙂

  4. Jennifer
    July 15, 2010 | 10:22 pm

    Oh my goodness! Beautiful!

    Tell her I wish for a sweater. 🙂

  5. michael rosenbaum
    July 15, 2010 | 11:18 pm

    I learned to love ballet, gymnastics, kiddie baseball, show choir and sororities. I got a lot of cheesy T-shirts out of it, but a blanket sounds way cooler.

  6. Hannah
    July 15, 2010 | 11:22 pm

    Oh, I so relate. My youngest is super crafty and I just can’t figure out where she got it. In fact, just tonight she was working on a weaving project and got so frustrated that she couldn’t get it quite right. Maybe you could send The Girl to tutor her? I’ll pay airfare! 🙂

  7. Jenifer
    July 15, 2010 | 11:46 pm

    Lovely! With three girls I often think that of all of them at various times.

  8. Jen
    July 16, 2010 | 12:44 am

    That sounds amazing. What a unique and special talent for a kid these days to have.

  9. carrien (she laughs at the days)
    July 16, 2010 | 2:15 am

    Pretty definitely. You weave words pretty well yourself. 🙂

  10. De
    July 16, 2010 | 7:20 am

    I am familiar with that “state of pleased surprise.”. It is so very wonderful, and so it seems is your Girl.

  11. magpie
    July 16, 2010 | 2:09 pm

    I love this. You share magic.

  12. edj
    July 16, 2010 | 5:30 pm

    I love your title 😉 And I love the image of this calm girl with dextrous hands, weaving. So lovely.
    I, too, am continually amazed at my daughter’s creativity. Where did she get that, I’ll think. Guess the fairies gave them good gifts at birth 😉

  13. Alison
    July 16, 2010 | 11:47 pm

    This is such a beautiful piece of writing. It shows so much about the Girl’s personality.

  14. bubble game
    April 4, 2012 | 9:43 am

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