I is for one of my most precious posessions
Altho I was born here in Florida, I grew up in a small town on Long Island, New York. Next to my house was a empty lot that all us kids used to play in all the time. One especially fun activity was sneaking in the house and "stealing" one of our Mom's spoons to dig in the empty lot!
Most times we just dug for the sheer childhood joy of playing in dirt and getting completely filthy :)
One afternoon during one of our many juvenile excavations I unearthed this:
I thought it was just a cool rock formation and was fascinated by what "nature" had made.
I kept this odd looking "rock" for many years, always considering it a special and unique find but never thinking it more than just a rock.
When I was around 13 years old my class went on a field trip to Eisenhower Park, a huge park in East Meadow.
Back then there was a small museum that featured the history of Long Island. As we walked around looking at all the different displays I noticed one highlighting Indian utensils and tools. And much to my shock and disbelief, there in the case was my "rock"!!!
It turns out, my "rock" was something called an Indian Paint Pot!
The Indians native to Long Island used rocks and mud to form small bowls and pots in which they stored the decorative face paints! AND I FOUND ONE! I was beside myself with childood glee!!
When I got home that afternoon, I told my parents about what I had seen in the museum. Not sure that this wasn't some wishful thinking on my part, they agreed to take my brother and I back the next weekend along with my "rock" and really check out what I had seen!
Practically bursting with excitment, the Fluffy Family set out for the museum in the park. Sure enough, there was my "rock" in the display case and in my hand! The two were identical! We took my newly grand Indian Paint Pot (since it was no longer a mere rock!) to the curator's office and he confirmed that what I had found was the geniune article!
I've kept this artifact over many moves and many years and it's still as special to me as it was the day I found it.
To me, it holds the history of my land and it's first people as well as so many childhood remembrances.
I is for my Indian Paint Pot and the immeasurable pride I have to possess it.
I promised myself no knitting posts until the albatross Diamond Fantasy Shawl is finished....and I'm getting close! So i'll be back soon with socks, shawls and a sweet orange kitty!
23 comments:
When you told me about it last night, it was hard to visualize. The pictures are great...what a cool story too :)
Now that is cool! Your "I" entry is certain to be unique.
Wow! Really cool! Very interesting stuff!
I am also working on the finishing of my stole ... the edging actually is enormous knitting! LOL! I am not yet half through it ... but it's going well. Can't wait to see your Diamond Fantasy shawl ... and of course your sweet orange kitty! :)
Very cool! My in-laws live on a lake in GA. During low lake times, my FIL has unearthed many pieces to a single clay pot in the sand. Tons of arrowheads and stuff to be found. He's a geologist so he can tell us a bit about rocks that we find. I still have some of the rocks and stuff I unearthed as a kid.
That is so cool. Thanks for posting a picture of the Indian Paint Pot. I found this fascinating.
Now that is FASCINATING! And how cool you've saved it all these years, too.
And I found an old tutorial burried in your blog about seamless toes that is great, talking about an old find. lol
http://fluffyknitterdeb.blogspot.com/2005/10/knitting-made-easier-turkish-cast-on.html
What a great story!! That sure is fascinating! I have to admit though, such close ups don't look at all like a rock but something else not so yummy. I hope you don't mind my honesty.
That's very cool! How exciting to have such an old peice of history, and have it confirmed to boot!
That's terrific! I love Indian artifacts! We've got some arrowheads but nothing as exciting as your find!
What a cool story. Now I know about Indian Paint Pots:)
That is very cool!
that pot is very cool looking. interesting and a great story to boot.
however...the pot is no p-man. i just checked and there have been no new p-man pics since april 8th. that's a solid week and a half. if you don't want to post any knitting shots that's fine (we can wait) but no p-man too? that's just cruel ;)
Very, very cool. Amazing that as a child, something in you recognized it as more than just a rock. Aren't you glad you didn't throw it into some garden where you were living at the time?
What a cool find!
How cool is that! what a story! I would have never guessed paint pot.
Kisses to P-man!
Wow that is a cool paint pot (even though it looks a lot like doody). I used to dig in my Long Island backyard and my mom was always so angry there were no spoons left in the flatware drawer.
That was a nice story, I needed a nice story today. I grew up on Long Island, too, but never found a paint pot. I had heard of them, though,
Li
What a fantastic Artifact and a great story! Thanks for sharing - I just LOVE stuff like that :)
p.s., the PMan is as cute as ever :)
Wow! SUPER COOL! Fabulous story.
Our boys were out digging in our dirt and gravel driveway last week when our 6 year old came running into the house yelling that his little brother, 3 years old, had found a dinosaur tooth!!!!
Turned out, it was a piece of deer bone that the dogs had dragged home probably last fall or this winter.
We, of course, didn't let on to them the truth. They kind of know it themselves that they're just pretending.
If they keep at it, maybe someday they'll come up with a "real" treasure like yours. As you're story reveals, it's really not all that unlikely.
I like it very much.
I grew up in Cutchogue and at a young age worked on different farms.
I am very fortunate to have found nine paint pots, numerous arrowheads and even three tools.
Now at 63 I have kept all in my small collection.
Finding them priceless, showing them to others, most don’t give two …
I also grew up on Long Island and found many as a kid still have them love your story
Probably looking for gold or precious stones
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