Cheating on my Wife

Every year I try to make an anniversary gift for my wife out of the material that is designated for that year of marriage. For instance, the first year is paper, the fifth year is wood, and eight is bronze (see the entry about last year's gift). In 2010 we celebrated our ninth anniversary. The material was ceramics.

You'd think this one would be easy. I took a full course in pottery at university, and Gwendolyn and I get out the play-dough often. However, getting one's hands on clay, a wheel, and a kiln really entails finding a potter who offers classes. So last summer I planned that we would attend a two-day class together in the autumn, and I'd throw something on the wheel based on what Sara would like.

My idea was perfect in theory. However, as with so many others of my great ideas in life, money was a limiting factor. The cost for two of us to do a two-day workshop together runs in the several hundreds of dollars. Last year, this stash of cash was not there.

So it came to pass that on our ninth anniversary, I cheated.

I found out that Sara wanted a straining fruit bowl and that she had eyed one up made by her pottery-throwing colleague at the Made In Chenango co-op. I made a secret run up to Norwich one day, and bought this little beauty:

I hope that someday we can do that pottery workshop together. Until then, the work of a pro will have to do.

~ emrys