My grandmother's baskets

There are many things that bind generation to generation. Sometimes it is the seemingly insignificant items that forge the strongest links.

My mother grew up from the age of two in a big old farmhouse dating from the 1800's that is located about 2 miles from where I live now.  It came complete with the shed between the house and garage and then a big old barn attached on the end of everything.  The barn was where my grandfather, who was a doctor, kept the horse and buggy that he used to do his rounds back in the "old days".  In bad weather no one had to go outside to get from house to barn - it was all connected. The shed even still had the privy back in the corner - left over from the no plumbing era.  Unused by the time I was a child except to store old canning jars and the like.

In the shed that connected the garage and the kitchen end of the house there were lots of interesting things hanging from the beams over head.  Among them were the baskets that my grandmother and then my Aunt Emily in later years used to gather vegetables from the garden.  They were there handy when you came out the kitchen door on the way to the gardens and out of the way up above your head when you didn't need them.

When my aunt passed away and the household goods were spread around though the family, those baskets were close to the only things I really wanted.  They spoke to me of tradition and daily life through the years and into the bargain they were useful!

Easy to see that they have some age on them because there aren't any nails at all in the lower one pictured and only tiny brads holding the edge band on the top one.  Considering how long I personally know they've been around they are in amazing shape.  They weren't for decoration, but to be used.

So now when I head out to my garden it's one of these baskets that I commonly grab to bring with me.

Even if I'm heading down cellar to get canning jars they come in handy.

It gives me a feeling of connection to the people in my family who are no longer physically here with me to use items that were dear to them.  It's important not to lose the sense of continuity that comes from cherishing and using things that come from your past.

At the risk of sounding trite, in this day and age of disposable and replaceable and "Made in China" I want to be able to put my hands on the same handles that my grandparents did and use these baskets daily as they did.  Sometimes I stumble trying to explain how this makes me feel but in some ways it's as if I am holding their hands down through the years and not just a basket handle.