ode to the beaver

okay. go ahead, chuckle if you like, but i have a thing for beavers. they are my very favorite member of the animal kingdom by far. i find them simply fascinating creatures. i am not exactly sure when it got started, but i know reading the book lily pond , by hope ryden sealed the deal. it is an her account of the four years she spent observing one particular beaver family in their pond. i also read another amazing book, about a woman who actually raised beavers in her flooded basement around the 1950's, but i cannot for the life of me recall the title or author. ( as a little aside here, because the memory just came to me, when i was student teaching at a school down the street from my good friends', dan and rachel's, house, i came into my classroom one morning to find a sweet little beaver sculpture waiting for me on my desk, crafted entirely out of zucchini! made by dan, of course. )

they mate for life. they raise their children together and all live in their sweet little handmade lodges. they are crafty as heck! industrious, resourceful, efficient, and so cute. several native american tribes have creation myths that involve a giant beaver creating the entire world. there is a lovely beaver family that lives in my town. years ago, before i had kids, i used to go down to the pond, set apple slices all around the edges, and sit with my binoculars and wait for them to come eat them. i could watch them for hours. they actually got very comfortable with me and would come quite close. i had names for them. uncle tupelo was the patriarch. nancy was his wife...

i've wanted to make a piece honoring beavers for awhile, but nothing came to me. when i saw these gorgeous brown willow creek jasper tear drops, i saw a pair of beaver tails. they measure 2 1/4" from top to bottom. i wore them around town today, just to test them out, and let me tell you, they were busy as little beavers themselves. twisting and twirling and swaying and swinging, they were non-stop and very delightful.

i also made a couple of new rings yesterday.

this one with one of patty's incredible vintage bisbee turquoise cabs

and this one with a fabulous round ocean jasper cab