December 15th is Wear Your Pearls Day. It is a day to be proud of overcoming challenges in your life. Why pearls? I have a book to help explain: ‘Pearls and Parasites” by Arthur E. Shipley, published 1908.
This book is hard to find in original print, and in good condition (though this was a library book). It is easier to buy a copy, one that has been photographed, page by page. But I love the allure of holding the real book when reading. The author has given nine chapters on various zoology topics. It is quite detailed.
The chapter on pearls clearly explains the process of a parasite, or irritant that gets stuck inside a clam. The clam keeps covering the parasite with layer after layer of nacre. The more layers of nacre, the larger the pearl that is formed.
This is the reason for “Wear Your Pearls Day”. The making of a pearl is a metaphor for our ability to turn our discomfort – life’s challenges, into something beautiful – a source of strength. We can overcome our irritants. I talked about Pearls in detail with my July 11th “But are they real?” story. It is worth a re-read.
One additional and unusual chapter in this book is about zebras. There has been attempts to mate them with horses. The author goes into the history, and then some modern results. There have been a few of these zorses and zonies. There are also pictures.
On December 15th, 1832, Gustave Eiffel was born. He created the Eiffel Tower, the now symbol of Paris. It was made for the 1889 World’s Fair. I have a wonderful oversized photo book called “Above Paris” by Robert Cameron and Pierre Salinger, published 1985.
While this book was produced only about forty years ago, it was difficult to make. The pictures are beautiful, and it was before drones could easily take photographs. These low flying aerial shots had to be approved by the city of Paris.
This is a close-up picture looking at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Mobile phone size photos do not do this picture justice.
Now here is a shot from the inside, at of the top of the Eiffel Tower, looking out. My wife and I are drinking wine from real glasses, (poured from a real bottle of wine that we smuggled through guards and elevator workers.) We drank the entire bottle so we did not have to smuggle it back down, though we did bring the glasses back.
December 15th, 2001, marked the reopening of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It had been closed for eleven years to scientifically strengthen and reinforce the base and tower so that it would not lean any further. They actually straightened the tower to the angle it had in 1838.
We visited Pisa last year in September. We just missed their 850th anniversary ceremony for laying the cornerstone by a month. We still did do the obligatory tourist photo shot of holding the tower up.
This is my wife recreating her Pisa-pose for our last year’s ‘Leaning Christmas Tree of Pisa’ complete with Pisa Tower ornaments and Italian flags.
Our neighbors, and those who drove by, just wondered why our tree was leaning so.
So… lean into the the flow, and cover those irritants that bother you, so they can become something beautiful. Smuggle in some wine if you need a little help. The Christmas season can be difficult for many, but we can make it through together.
P.S. Speaking of making it through…I recently passed a kidney stone. Like pearls, kidney stones keep getting larger. Unlike pearls, kidney stones are not smooth. I gave birth to this 4 mm calcium oxalate baby two months ago.
Librarytomes 