I visited my Internet friend's blog and found a box like this. I learned that it is called a Palekh box. I thought it would be fun to share mine, which I bought in St. Petersburg. It just called to me as I saw so much of myself in it. My parents were both born in Russia, though they came to Canada as children. My mother read me Russian folk tales so I was attracted to the image as it reminded me of those stories. Symbols in the image - the cat, the woman playing a wind instrument are both important in my life. So this box came home with me.
I do wonder about all these "treasures". As I cleared out my kitchen for renovations I made many choices of what was kept and what went. These items we pick up on travels add to the baggage of our lives. Yet they are often meaningless to others, even our children as they did not live the event that made them into treasures. When I move in a few years there will be many more decisions to make as I downsize. Will this be one of my keepers?
