[Tidbits] The Silver Menagerie

Tennessee Williams anyone? But this is a tale about another chap. He
came to this country quite young. escaping Hitler’s advancement. And
he went into the jewelry trade and became a diamond setter. And he
met an angel and he married her and they had children. And in between
all this he made a few scant friends.

Imagine yourselves on the African plains. You’re a herd animal. A
Water Buffalo perhaps. Or a Wildebeast. You’re hanging around with
the ladies and the other gentlemen of your group… . munching on some
succulent blades of grass. farting way with total disregard to others
as they in turn do the same. It is camaraderie in its fullest form.
But wait. Over there. Many yards away from the group. you espy one of
your kind… alone. munching on the same succulent blades of grass as
do you. totally ignoring the group. Not rude mind you. You wave a hoof
at him. he’ll wave a hoof right back. You turn to your buddy. What’s
with him, you ask. Your buddy shrugs. Ah. … he’s okay. He’s just a
fringe-herd member.

And that’s what it was with our diamond setter. He was a bit of a
fringe- herd member. friendly but always a bit solitary. Any of you
out there relate? But when he had a friend. it was usually a true
friend till the end. He only had one or two like that. In his mind
one friend forever is worth more than ten friends transitionally.

Which brings us to the Silver Menagerie. Every once in a while a
friend of our fringe herd member–who was a gentle man and a
gentleman–would pop over to his shop and say here. a silver animal
or something like that. for you. And collection grew. till one day
his friend died and the silver collection started to collect
dust–all but forgotten–on a shelf as many eons came and went.

And then. as happens at times. it was time to straighten the bloody
room up once and for all why don’t you buddy. That ever happen to any
of you? And the diamond setter discovered the silver pieces which
contained: One bison, two pigs, and castle and two horses, a duck a
goose and a mouse, a couple of dogs, a tortoise, a couple of
squirrels playing, and a wizened old sage. They ranged in
measurements. The sage was 2 1/4 inches tall. The horse was 2 1/4
inches wide. The piglet was 1/2 inch high. The mouse 1/2 inch narrow.
And the others ranged in sizes in between.

And he said hmmm. And he stroked his beardless chin. And he pondered.
And he said to himself as he often did because he could find no more
an amenable soul with whom to have a conversation. hey… you.
diamond setter. why don’t you photograph these things and write a
little something about them in your ezine which you like to call
Tidbits. Which he did. And here they are. My silver menagerie. given
to me by an old dear friend now long departed. who enriched my life
with his friendship. His name was Al. And he was an ultra fine
diamond setter. and he taught this fringe-herd member the trade.

Okay. Now go. Leave. You know why. You know where.

So then. ta-dumm… you know the rest. The visit to the image. also
known as the viewing experience. You know where. Home page.
http://www.tyler-adam.com. Scroll down. Left side. Tidbits. Click.
And there for your sensory optic pleasure you will see a Silver
Menagerie as part of a collection held by yours truly.

And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all
next week.

Benjamin Mark