(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

Although I can look for hours, poking around one antique shop after another, and I often find some little something I can't resist, there are only a few things I actually collect. Fortunately, the speical things I love are not always easy to find so I enjoy the hunt as much as the treasure when I bring it home.

Last week I had an hour or so to myself and was in the mood to prowl. I always enjoy looking around Roost, on the corner of Main Avenue and Division Street downtown and often pick up something special there.

Sure enough, I'd only been in the store a few minutes when I spotted the large plaster Madonna figure. I have a small collection of similar figures and this one was perfect. I had to bring her home. Such relics are popular with collectors and prices have risen in recent years. While not a steal, I thought this large statue was reasonably priced and the neutral colors are perfect for my home.

So, she's on my desk now. Waiting to be placed in the perfect niche.

I may not find another vintage “Our Lady” figure for months or even years, but whenever I do I remember exactly when and where I was when I made the discovery. That's what makes each one special.

My friend Kati took me on a road trip recently.

Following Highway 2 west of Spokane, we pulled into the little town of Reardan. First stop was lunch at the Red Rooster. (Kati's tip: Order the potato salad. She's right.) Full and happy, we headed around the corner to the new location of Rejuvenations to do some shopping.

The new storefront is the first clue that the interior is more than a hodgepodge of any old thing.  Upscale corrugated metal trim and stylized lettering lead inside to a surprisingly roomy space. With old and new items side by side, it's easy to spend an hour or so poking into corners and investigating the loft. I especially loved the new-and-improved burlap sewn into pillow covers and the exclusive line of ruffled curtains and bed linens.

Instead of the junking-only shopping I'd expected to do, I found a couple of new items I couldn't leave behind. The lightweight fleece-lined leggings will keep me warm this winter and my new granddaughter scored a pair of ruffled pants.

I've been traveling so much lately, I'm a bit behind so it was a treat to get out of town and catch up on what Rejevenations owner, Coni Tanninen, has done with the business. This is a beautiful time of year for a drive. Head west, stop in Reardan and rejuvenate. Oh, and don't forget to look up at the ceiling while you're shopping. The big burlap covered light fixture is one of the most creative things I've seen in a while.

Check out the store's facebook page for more photos and information.

It's so nice to see a proliferation of good antique sales popping up around Spokane. For a while we had one or two each year with a few smallers sales here and there to tide us over. Antiquing, like most other activities, is a social activity. A time to gather, shop, talk, shop some more and then come together to talk about what you found. It's not just fun. It's a lifestyle.

This weekend is Pickin' on the Prairie, held at Brenda Buckingham's Past Blessings Farm, on Orchard Prairie, north of Spokane.

Buckingham has 35 vendors bringing vintage finds and the farm will be decorated with plenty of the chippy, shabby and rusted goodies Spokane just can't get enough of.

The sale will be Saturday and Sunday, 10 am - 4 pm.

Be prepared for a $4 admission but children 12 and under are free.  For more information go to PastBlessings.blogspot.com

Today's the day for those seeking a little Junk Salvation.

The Funky Junk sisters, Dixie and Linda, have put together a rollicking sale today from 8am to 4pm at the Kootenai Fairgrounds. If it's rusted, ruffled, chipped and charming, you'll find it there.

Can I get an Amen?

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)  

   I really thought I’d sold or given away the old 48-star United States flag I picked up at an estate sale years ago.  I hadn’t seen the flag since we downsized six years ago, so I assumed it didn’t make the move. But last week I was rummaging through a box on one of the shelves in the garage and there it was.

    Using old upholstery tacks I hung it on the cedar shingles of the house, over the metal gliders that sit in a favorite corner near the covered patio, a place I like to sit early in the morning or in the cool of the evening. I liked the way it lifted in the breeze, when there was a breeze, and fluttered a bit. We didn’t have any big plans for the 4th of July, just grilling hamburgers on the patio with the family, so I decided the vintage cotton flag—made sometime between 1912 and 1959, before the addition of Hawaii and Alaska—was all the decoration we needed.

    I left it up for a few days after the 4th of July because my daughter, the new college graduate, would be home later in the week as she made her way over to Seattle to complete a week of specialized training for her new job as a geologist. That night, before she flew out the next morning, after another patio meal, we talked about her new job and her new life and celebrated her launch into the adult world.

   Before she left I snapped a photo of her sitting in the place I spend so many quite moments. In the photograph the flag is hanging over her marking, at least in my mind, yet another kind of independence day.
  

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Spokesman-Review Home Planet and Treasure Hunting columns and blogs and her CAMera: Travel and Photo blog, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

I was up before the sun this morning, wanting to get a head start on gardening chores before the expected heat of the day made things too uncomfortable. After a cup of coffee I went to work and got a lot of the heaviest work out of the way and was ready for a break by mid-morning, so my daughter and I hopped in the truck and drove over to the Moran Prairie Strawberry festival at the Moran Prairie Grange.

We strolled around, grateful for the tents and shade offered by so many of the vendors, and picked up a map of Italy for her room and a wrought-iron frame that will become a blackboard for the kitchen. The final find was my favorite: a heavy vintage concrete fountain base. The weathered figures of a girl and boy, still bearing traces of white paint, were exactly right for my garden.

I had to laugh. It's easy to see my daughter has been junking with me since she was born. After I paid the vendor she simply picked up the heavy piece and headed for the car. And when we got home she unloaded it and placed it in the flower bed beside the covered patio where we spend so many hours this time of year.

So far, today has been a perfect summer Saturday and there are still hours of daylight ahead of us. And tonight, when the air is cool again, I'll sit in the twilight, tired and probably a little sore, and enjoy the newest old thing in the garden.

The Moran Prairie Strawberry Festival will be on the grounds of the Moran Prairie Grange until 4 p.m. this afternoon. You can find more information here.

Our homes mirror the stages of our lives. The rooms I live in now don't resemble the funky, hand-me-down interior of my first apartment, our first house or even the places we lived when the children were small. As my children grew up, the practical, scrubbable and, in some cases disposable, furniture and accessories we had when there were little hands and mouths everywhere, were slowly replaced with better fabrics and vintage pieces. The toybox was filled with magazines or pillows. The candlesticks and pottery were back on the coffee table.

Of course, change is the constant in every life and every family.

Now, with a grandbaby that spends a few days each week here with me, I had to take a closer look at some of the older things that were around the house. One piece in particular, an old bench, sat by the door ready for my purse or a stack of magazines. It was a rustic, handmade little bench that had obviously spent a lot of time outdoors. Looking at it from a caretaker's perspective, it was, although quaint and timeworn, a splintery, tippable and completely unsuitable perch for a baby who will be crawling soon enough. And, for all I know, the little bit of paint that was still clinging to the splintery wood was lead-based and dangerous.

So, the bench is back in the garden. And, as luck would have it, I was able to replace it when I spotted a nice, not-so-old, piece at Roost Antiques. I hadn't set out to go shopping but I had 30 free minutes, a couple of quarters for the parking meter and absolutely no idea that the first thing I'd spot was exactly what I needed. The right color, the right look and the right price. With meter-time to spare I put it in the car and brought it home.

Babies don't stay babies forever. When the time is right the old things can come back. For now, not-so-old is good enough.

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

   Just off the Grand Place and not far from the iconic Brussels “Manneken-Pis”  (little man, peeing) fountain, the Hotel Amigo sits tucked into the corner of Rue de la Violette. And just a block or two up the Rue de la Violette, is one of my favorite treasure hunting spots.
    

   Episode (one of seven sister stores in Europe) is a long, narrow shop filled with second-hand clothing, big bins of vintage scarves, purses, accessories and luggage.  The music is loud and the clientele tends to be young and academic. And every time I’m there I find something wonderful.

    On my last trip to Brussels I had a couple of hours to myself and set out immediately up the hill to shop. After a few minutes I decided that while the people-watching was fun, I wouldn’t be bringing home anything fantastic this time. I poked around in the bin of scarves but everything seemed to be polyester, not the vintage silk I’d found in the past. I’d scored a beautiful worn leather satchel last time but this time the luggage was all standard roll-aboard bags. Nothing I couldn’t leave without.

    Finally, turning to leave, I stopped to take one last look at a rack near the door. There were so many items squeezed onto the rack it was difficult to get a good look at anything one in particular, but something caught my eye. It was a short jacket in a fine, vibrant, orange wool and I tugged and pulled and finally got it out of the crush of garments on the rack.

    As soon as I pulled it out, I laughed. I wouldn’t be going home empty-handed. I had my treasure.
    The short, aviator-style jacket was mint-condition vintage Versace, in a color that has become trendy again. Originally, it was probably part of a suit, but wearing both pieces would be a bit too orangy for me. The jacket was my size and, at 25 Euro, it was a still deal.

    Back in my hotel room, I folded it into one of the compression bags I always carry in my luggage to help me squeeze in “just one more thing”  and now it’s hanging in my closet.

    I haven’t worn the jacket yet, but with three daughters who shop my closet whenever they’re looking for something a bit different, I know it will have its day on the town sooner or later.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Spokesman-Review Home Planet and Treasure Hunting columns and blogs and her CAMera: Travel and Photo blog, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

  

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

What Chris Lynch has created by stitching vintage, shabby and sometimes quirky oil paintings onto canvas tote bags, is the most practical form of wearable art; pretty to look at but made to be used.  With repurposed women’s leather belts as handles and straps, no two bags are alike.

I stopped by Pink Salvage Gallery last week and Chris was just setting up the art-bags in her tiny vault/showroom. Displayed within elegant vintage frames, the bags look like the little works of art they are.

Chris is as creative with needle and thread as anyone I know. I included a photo of her folding-chair slipcovers created from vintage aprons in a 2005 Treasure Hunt column in the Spokesman-Review’s HOME insert, and every time I chat with her she has a new project going. This is one of my favorites.

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

There are places I go for coffee, places I go to shop for vintage treasures and places I go to find something new to bring home to read. In the case of Atticus Coffee and Gifts, the sister store to Boo Radley's, just down the street, I can do all three.

In my column in the latest issue of Spokane CdA Woman magazine I wrote about finding a 1909 English-language guidebook to Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany. Written for those taking a “grand tour,” it listed historical facts about the city, including photos, and was full of advertisements for hotels, cafe's and entertainment options.

Having just returned from Frankfurt a few months before finding the guidebook, I couldn't resist. I thumbed through it while I sipped my cappuccino and then happily paid the $10 price to bring it home to keep.

The book was written in the years before World War I, the Great War. The war that was supposed to end all wars. It didn't, of course. And during the Second World War, much of Frankfurt was destroyed by allied bombing. Frankfurt rebuilt and if you didn't know its history you might not realize that what a tourist sees now is relatively new. But the photos in the guidebook are fascinating because they show the city as it was. It all looks the same, but the photos in the book captured a period of history just before the world changed forever.

The book is on my desk and I occasionally open it to read a bit more. And, of course, I'm always on the lookout for something else that will have to come home with me.

I have a route, a circle of shops and places I go to feed my antiquing habit. At Atticus I can feed my coffee-habit at the same time.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Spokesman-Review Home Planet and Treasure Hunting columns and blogs and her CAMera: Travel and Photo blog, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

When I walk out the door, chances are something I'm wearing is vintage. Whether it's a silk scarf I picked up in a vintage shop in Paris or a thrift store in San Antonio, a pair of 1960's earrings from an estate sale or even one of the vintage designer pieces I scored on eBay or Etsy, my fashion finds are always with me.

The other day I glanced down at the dish on my dresser that holds jewelry and other odds and ends. Looking at the contents, I realized I could draw a map around town connecting the dots from one favorite shop to another.

That's how it is with Treasure Hunters. We see it, we love it, we buy it and we celebrate it.

I wrote about this very thing in the March/April issue of Spokane Cd'A Woman magazine. You can read that column here. And you can always read more about my travels (and my treasure hunting) on my CAMera: Travel and Photo blog.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Spokesman-Review Home Planet and Treasure Hunting columns and blogs and her CAMera: Travel and Photo blog, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

(Image courtesy of Two Women Art & Antiques)

I can't imagine a better weekend to make the short trip to Spangle (just 9 miles from I-90) to the spring Two Women Art & Antiques Barn Bazaar.

In addition to a beautiful drive through the Palouse, you'll get antiques, vintage finds, arts and crafts, homemade goodies and live music all for the $1 admission (Admission proceeds will go to the Moran Prairie Grange resoration project.)

Hours are:

Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm

Sunday: 10 am - 4 pm

Click here for directions and contact information. See you there!

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

   In this column I usually write about the objects I discover on my travels and bring home with me, vintage finds that are reminders of the places I’ve been and seen. But occasionally, the destination itself is the treasure.

    I spent my last night on a recent visit to the island of Kaua’i in the little town of Waimea. In 2006 the entire town, a place that was once the hub of the island’s sugar cane industry, was given National Trust for Historic Preservation® status.

    The Waimea Plantation Resort had been the site of a thriving plantation but at the end of Kaua’i sugar production in the late 1980s the owners decided to create a resort destination that captured the period feel of the plantations. Worker cottages from around the island were moved and refurbished into vacation cottages and the original plantation manager’s house became a large ocean-view rental.

    My cottage, built some time in the early 20th Century, was set back along an avenue of tall coconut palms and the windows framed a slice of ocean view. It was perfect for me.

    The original wide plank floors and tongue-in-groove walls of the interior were cool under my feet. One bathroom featured a claw-foot tub and the other a vintage soaking tub. Wide lanai doors in the living room and master bedroom opened to carry the ocean breeze throughout the house.

    While comfortable and contemporary in all the right ways, the simple cottage was not fussy or artificial. The small kitchen was simple and open, with shelves for crockery and a period Schoolhouse ceiling light.

    At night, after a “catch of the day” dinner at the Grove Cafe, and a walk back to my cottage under a sky filled with stars,  I slept with the doors open to the cool night air. The sound of birds woke me in the morning.

    I love small houses. I like the compactness of a cottage and I especially appreciate a house with history. I like the idea that people, sometimes generations of one family, lived there in every sense of the word, putting every corner to good use.

    With an evening flight, I requested and received a late checkout and spent the coolest hours of the morning sheltered under the wide tin roof of the front porch, writing and editing photos and looking out toward the sea.

    I came away with the feeling that I’d managed to find something unique. This was my first visit to any of the Hawaiian Islands, partially because I'd worried I would be disappointed. That what I’d imagined no longer existed. That paradise had been paved and planted with high-rise condominiums. But when I woke up with the Kaua'i sunrise, strolled down to the beach before breakfast and then back past the tall Cook Pine tree, I stopped for a moment to admire the little house where I’d spent the night. I couldn’t bring it back with me so I did the next best thing. I captured a file full of photos and made a promise to myself I would return.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Spokesman-Review Home Planet and Treasure Hunting columns and blogs and her CAMera: Travel and Photo blog, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

   When it is time to dress the table for dinner I open the old oak armoire that serves as my linen and china closet and take out the one of the bundles of napkins, table runners and tablecloths I've collected from all over the world.

   Folded and tied with ribbon and stacked in the armoire, the old textiles are more than just pieces of cloth to cover the table or place under the centerpiece. The natural textures and hues, from snowy whilte to soft vanilla to almost burlap-brown, are pleasing to the eye and to the touch. A few pieces are monogrammed, stitched with the initials of the woman who owned them first. Some are sewn with fine stitches and edged in delicate lace. Others are more crudely made, finished with heavy crochet. Some are not decorated at all, simply hemmed lengths of fabric.

   Before I select a piece I run my fingers over the folds and, in my mind, draw a map of the world, connecting one place to another with a trail of purchases. The short piece of very old linen I found in a bin in a Paris shop. The table runner picked up for a song in Biloxi, Mississippi. The woven second-hand souvenirs of trips to Belgium and Germany. The linen tea towel from a thift store in San Antonio. The Irish linen napkins purchased from an antiques shop in Birmingham, Alabama

   These fabrics bring out the hausfrau in me. If the tulips dust them with pollen, or the wine spills or coffee cups leave rings, I shrug. These small sins almost always disappear in the wash. And on the first hot day of summer I soak them in hot water and hang them out to dry and bleach in the sun before bundling them again, tying each stack with a length of white ribbon.

   I am not naturally tidy. I have to work at it. When I open the cabinet I almost always find a jumble of china and crystal and odds and ends that weren't put away properly. Perhaps it is an indication of how much I love these old, worn fabrics, but I take the time and enjoy the ritual of folding and stacking them for the next use. It gives me the opportunity to admire the handiwork of another woman, the beauty of natural things. And each piece reminds me of the place it was discovered and tucked into my suitcase before coming home with me.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance journalist based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Home Planet , Treasure Hunting and CAMera: Travel and Photo blogs, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country.

CAM is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

When you walk into Roost, the new vintage emporium on Main Avenue and Division, the first thing you'll see is a trunk filled with letters and papers. But what makes the papers so interesting is that they are a lifetime of correspondence, keepsakes and photographs of a woman who moved from France to Spokane after World War II.

Never have I wished I could speak, and especially read, French as when I was pulling out yellowed pieces of onionskin paper and AirMail envelopes covered with small, neat, lines of handwriting.

Owner, Dena Kieffer, told me the contents of the trunk were all from one estate and I spent at least half an hour rummaging through the ephemera.

Finally, when I'd run out of time, I committed to a folded sheet of stationary ($2) and a souvenir postcard book of photographs of the S.S. Normandie. ($12)

I chose the letter because it is the perfect size to scan and save. I'm going to use it for several decorating projects I have in mind.  The postcard book is a miniature history lesson. The elegant French ocean liner was built in 1935 and made 139 crossings to the Untied States before she was seized by the U.S.in 1942 and put into service as the USS Lafayette only to burn and sink in 1942.

The Normandie was one of the last of an era, and as a frequent traveler I love anything to do with the elegant age of transportation.

I brought home my French souvenirs and spent a happy hour or so examining them. The last time I was in Roost, the big box of French memorabelia was still there. I'm tempted to go back and lose myself again in the photos and bits of paper history.

Parlez-vous Junque?

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Home Planet , Treasure Hunting and  CAMera: Travel and Photo blogs, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com
  

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

If you were anywhere near the Fox Theater in downtown Spokane Saturday night, you might have noticed men and women in evening wear, wearing elaborate masks as they hurried into the beautiful Art Deco building. It was the Spokane Symphony's first Masquerade Ball and I was there with the rest of the partygoers. It was fun to see the men and women in costume and it was amazing the difference the masks made. Even old friends didn't immediately recognize one another.

Like everyone else I had wanted my mask to stand out, to say something about its wearer. So, after thinking about it for a few days, I went to an unexpect source.

Becky Ellis and Holly Baublitz, of Spokane's All That Glitter, are now located in Pink, the vintage and salvage mecca located just a few blocks from the Fox Theater. Becky's elaborate creations—crowns, wreaths and other exquisite displays crafted of ephemera and found objects—are beautiful one-of-a-kind collages. I've long admired her work and it occurred to me she was the perfect person to make a custom, vintage inspired, mask for the ball.

I stopped into Pink one afternoon and talked to Holly. She asked a few questions about whether I wanted a mask to wear all night or one on a stick that could be worn or carried. I chose the former. I reminded her that I'm not a particularly “blingy” woman, prefering my pearls to over-the-top sparkles. After that, I left everything else to Becky and just waited for the call.

When Holly opened the pink (naturally) box and showed me the mask, I was thrilled. The sepia tones of old Spokesman-Review newspaper pages, clipped and decopaged onto the mask form, accented by ostrich feathers and vintage faux pearls and rhinestones, glowed. A dusting of German glass glitter finished the effect. Just enough sparkle for a ball, but not too much. Rather than an elastic band, Becky had crafted a clever headband to hold it on comfortably.

It was perfect.

On Saturday night I slipped on the mask and joined the party. After the ball, it became a unique piece of handmade art for my home office. Now, every time it catches my eye I smile, celebrating the creative talent of a local artist. And I remember a wonderful night spent benefitting a great cause.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Home Planet , Treasure Hunting and  CAMera: Travel and Photo blogs, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

Once a month I spend a half an hour or so at Spokane Public Radio recording several Home Planet columns for my weekly Sunday Morning Essay program. ( Listen to the Podcast here.)

I always try to make sure I have enough time to record three or four essays and then prowl around the The Vintage Rabbit Antique Mall on the street level of the building, before I have to make the after-school pickup. This was my week to record, and as it happened, it was also my week to discover a great find.

For years I've been picking up old wicker-covered bottles. Long before Pottery Barn decided it was the perfect accessory, I was adding to my collection one old bottle at a time. Today, thanks to a dealer at The Vintage Rabbit, I brought home one more.

It's in great shape, showing the expected wear and age but the wicker is still intact and the exposed lip of the bottle isn't chipped or broken. And the bonus? I paid only $5.50.

Friday is usually a good day. But a sunny Friday with all deadlines met, a great find and a fun weekend ahead is a very good day.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is the author of Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons.  She also blogs at Home Planet and CAMera: A Photo Blog of People and Places. CAM can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)  

   So often when we bring home an antique or a vintage find, we’re left to imagine the history it might have. That’s part of the fun after all, speculating where and when an object might have been used, and in whose hands it might have been. But occasionally, if we’re fortunate, we are gifted with an heirloom with a story that is our own.

   In 2007 I wrote a Mother’s Day Treasure Hunting column for the Spokesman-Review HOME section about an antique wooden crib hanging in my garage. It was, I wrote, the symbol of motherhood for me.

   I’d found the little bed in pieces in my mother-in-law’s basement when I was pregnant with my first child. It had been my husband’s grandmother’s crib when she was born in 1898 and at some time, when households were sold and moved, it had ended up in my mother-in-law’s basement as a family heirloom with no real expectation of ever being used again. But I had to have it and we were fortunate enough to have a family member who was an expert woodworker. He made repairs and reinforced it, adding slats to replace the wire mattress holder, and I can still hear the excitement in his voice when he called to tell me he’d found 1895 written in pencil on one of the pieces. In March of 1985, exactly 100 years after it was signed and dated, we gently placed our newborn daughter in it on the night we brought her home from the hospital.

   That crib served us well for many years. My son and two younger daughters spent their first months in it as well, and when there were no more babies it sat in the youngest daughter’s room for years as a place to hold her stuffed animals and baby dolls. And then, finally, it was put away.

   A lot of splendid finds have come through my house, some to stay and others to be sold or given away when they were no longer useful or necessary. Or, when the big house was sold, when they no longer fit our downsized lives.

   But the little bed was too precious to let slip away, so it was put away until until another generation arrived to claimed it. Which is exactly what has happened.

   My husband climbed the ladder in the garage and lifted it off the hooks on which it had been resting. He brought it into the house and we cleaned and polished the wood and slipped the sheets over the mattress. And last night when my daughter brought our month-old granddaughter over for a visit, as we watched her sleeping in the place her mother had been only a heartbeat ago, it was as if the years were a length of ribbon, tying one generation to another.


Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Home Planet , Treasure Hunting and  CAMera: Travel and Photo blogs, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)  

   I’m in good company, I know, but I have this tendency to put my head on my pillow, completely exhausted by the events of the day, and then find myself wide awake, unable to sleep. The words I couldn’t come up with earlier suddenly pop into my head without warning, or one of my children crosses my mind or I am so excited about a trip or a project my brain is buzzing with ideas. I’ve learned over the years to not fight it. Instead I get up, make a cup of Chamomile tea and sit down in the dark living room, relishing the quiet.

   More often than not, if I am wandering through dark rooms when I should be in bed, I am guided by a small lighted globe that sits on my desk. A thrift store find, it is used as a night light as much as a travel reference.  

   Tonight, as I walked by, I looked down at the globe and noticed the story that could be told with the other items around it.

   The globe is surrounded by a souvenir model of the Eiffel Tower  I brought home from Paris, a clay dish made by one of my children which holds a handful of Euro coins, and a purse-sized pocket atlas, a gift from my daughter last Christmas.

   When I look at the globe at night, shining in a dark corner of the room, I remember the maps and globes of my geography class when I was a girl, the way they intrigued me and opened a world  of possibility, inviting me to explore and dream and go.

   Sleepy at last, the tea finished and the cup rinsed, I headed back to bed. On an impulse, I grabbed the camera that is always sitting on the desk and took a photo. I think I'll put it on my computer to light my hotel room when I travel.

   It’s funny. I’ve brought home so many things over the years. But this little globe means the world to me.



Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. In addition to her Home Planet , Treasure Hunting and  CAMera: Travel and Photo blogs, her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com
  

If you're looking for a little creative inspiration, Custer's 35th annual Spring Arts and Crafts Show is coming up this weekend and we've got a chance to win free tickets!

Treasure Hunting creative types should go to The Spokesman-Review's weekly news quiz, authored by reporter Jim Camden. Simply by taking the 10-question, interactive quiz this week, you will be eligible to win two free tickets to this weekend's Custer's Spring Arts and Crafts Show. And the overall winner, drawn from among the top scores, earns a $50 gift card to the Davenport Hotel.

Winners are drawn Friday morning. Find the quiz at www.spokesman.com/newsquiz