I have an interesting aunt. Well, several actually, but this one in particular started her professional life in computer science back in the early days when everything was still punch cards, and there were almost no women in the field. She had a good job our in California, drove a cute little Porsche convertible and seemed to be living the American dream life.
When she was 27, she put that all aside to follow her passion of Anthropology and ended up moving to Canada to teach at one of the universities there. Although her financial situation changed dramatically, she was given the opportunity for so much travel on her sabbatical years and study indigenous tribes around the world.
I didn’t get to see her much when I was growing up, but I reconnected with her as an adult. On my first visit, she gave me this goose she picked up on her travels. Whenever she visits a new place, she makes it a point to always talk to the children. She meets a lot of them peddling local crafts their families have made. She knows that these purchases are truly examples of native crafts, support a local family, and give them more meaning than anything she could pick up at a souvenir shop.
Because of this, when I visit a new place, I try to find the small stands or a person with a shop on their own land selling traditional hand made items. Taking some time to talk to the artist or their family lets me appreciate the work and history that has gone into their craft, and attaches greater memories to the object once I get it home. It all started when I was given this goose.
alookatthelittlethings 
I also like to buy local crafts when I travel. The goose is very special. It looks like it is made from wood.
It is a bundle of thin twigs. I love the use of things other people would overlook.
Perhaps every twig was a part of a bundle of a potential goose all along.
What a fabulous story and a wonderful tradition – I’m going to adopt that one! Your Aunt sounds an interesting woman. Thank you for sharing this piece of family history.
It is nice to remember the people and not just the place when I look at things around the house.
I agree, Christina, my house is full of ‘people’! 😉
Lovely story. I love traditional crafts, so hard to track down the genuine ones from tourist tat!
It’s true! It seems that everything around here is marked “made in China “.
Wonderful Post! Love that goose!
He sits on top of the China cabinet to keep an eye on things.
🙂 Perfect!
What an interesting transition your aunt made! I always sort of wish I’d become an anthropologist or folklorist–those fields offer so much. And you learned a great lesson from her, in getting past the tourist junk to the real deal.
I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by a group of interesting family members. They provide good life lessons.
[…] Christina A Look at the Little Things ……. goosey […]
What an interesting story and goose. I wonder what it is made from.
It seems to be very thin twigs or perhaps plant stems.
That is a fascinating craftwork
It is interesting to see what other cultures develop craft-wise. I’ve never seen anything else like around here.