Needlepointing
Friday, January 23rd, 2009My partner and I spent 2 and 1/2 months in Greece in between a move from CA to NM in 1992. We tried to find little out-of-the-way places we liked and then we stayed for awhile – 4-10 days before moving on. On some of the smaller islands or more remote areas of larger islands there were worlds that had nothing to do with the "modern" world. In all the smaller towns, women came out onto their porches in the early evening with their needlework. I too had brought along my needlepointing and I’d sit out on the veranda of our pension listening to the women calling out greetings and news doing my needlework too.
I put down needlepointing a few years later but then recently I had a strong urge to start up again. The Greek women would always ask to see the back of my canvas – to see how neat my stitches were. I don’t think I scored very high then and probably still wouldn’t but I do notice that my whole mindset of "trying to finish" is gone. I just enjoy stitching without any sense of wanting to see the end result. So I’m needlepointing a large (18" by 20") canvas which wiill probably take me forever but that’s OK. It’s a relaxing way to get some down time after my work as a web developer. It’d be kind of neat actually if everyone in the neighborhood came out to greet the early evening with their needlework, calling out greetings to each other and enjoying the closing hours of the day. I think I’d like that.
