I have always like the sound of the Autoharp, I wanted to learn to play it, so I begged and begged and finally my parents bought me one. It came with the Mother Maybell Carter Autoharp course.
I still have that autoharp and I still can't play it.
But I became a great fan of the Carter Family. When June Carter Cash's autobiography "Among my Klediments" came out in 1979, I wasn't nearly as interested in the book as I was in the word 'klediments". I am told that the word comes from a Scottish term "clutterment", or cluttertrap and literally means clutter.
June Carter Cash in her book described a klediment(clad-ih-ment) this way "A klediment can be a thing you love. . . . A klediment can be a thing you just won't throw away. . . . A klediment can be a person dear to you." this presumed mispronunciation of the word was found mainly in eastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. I would say it is now also in the hearts and minds of many people who realize the importance of preserving the past, so that the history of everyday people is preserved also.
Now, on to my photo. The frame is new, and the picture the one that came in it. But tucked into the nest is a plaster "nesting egg", for chickens prefer to lay their eggs next to another egg, and if you harvest the eggs each day, the chicken will start a new nest everyday. It belonged to my grandmother, now proudly mine, chicken poop stains and all.
The tiny chamberpot with kittens in it came from a rummage sale, the watch was one I got running after someone else tossed it out. the train belonged to my Dad. When he was working on his house, he found it, badly rusted and wheels missing, under the floor of the summer kitchen. He cleaned it up and gave me what remained of it as a gift, a treasure. I bought the clam shell sculpture at King Richard,s Faire.
Klediments all. All sweet reminders.
