My Kettle Creek bag

[vaneramos]

Mom gave me this backpack some years ago. It's my most prized possession. Even my computer doesn't evoke such sentiment as this canvas bag.

It's a product of Kettle Creek Clothing Company, now defunct, so the bag is irreplaceable. Nylon packs tend to come apart at the seams. My friend, Bob, repaired this one once. But it had earned its scar. The red drawstring broke a few months ago and I replaced it with a blue lace from one of my daughters' discarded garments.

It goes practically everywhere with me, over my shoulder. Sometimes it even suffices to carry all my needs for a weekend visit, though I'm inclined to pack my clothes in other luggage and save the space in here for the usual things: my notebook, fountain pen, whatever novel I'm reading, camera, sketchbook, and—in the front pocket—wallet, keys and Rolaids.

I'm surrounded by metaphors for life: shelves of books, the river where I walk. But this durable bag is most potent and present. It's a red canvas heart enclosing the tools of my creativity and navigation, necessities for buying food and passing through portals. It will probably wear out before I do, some sad day.

~~~~~~~~~~

I did the sketch using Prismacolor for the Everday Matters weekly drawing challenge. These pencils are conducive to fine detail, so I'm inclined to be too precise and end up getting frustrated. I want more freedom and spontaneity. I made a couple discarded attempts to draw the bag last week. This one started with a fairly precise contour drawing, but at last I loosened up with the shading. It's been a long time since I did much drawing. I stuffed the bag with a throw pillow so it wouldn't look like an inert splat of protoplasm.

I have stopped writing for Suite101.com. I had written 138 articles for my topic, Living With Nature, since November 1999, and took over the Ecology topic a little more than a year ago. I had taken a sabbatical since November because my ideas were running stale and I needed a chance to refocus. I had intended to publish new articles this week, but came to the conclusion it is no longer the best venue for my nature writing. To replace it, I plan to launch a new journal featuring new articles weekly or twice a month, and embed it in my website, which also requires imminent redesign.

The increased dosage of mirtazapine (60 mg per day) has thrown my sleep cycle out of whack. I overslept for several nights in a row, then last night my body compensated by not wanting to sleep at all. I sat up until 7 a.m. playing with Picasa 2, new free software from Google for handling images. Then I slept until 11. I've had other anomalous symptoms, like waking up from sound sleep with a panic attack. I can't tell whether my mood has improved. Hopefully this weirdness will settle down, otherwise I want to return to the previous dosage (45 mg).

Comments

Your traveling companion

[kwintt.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely memory and a touching drawing. Isn't it interesting how objects we treasure can become infused with such meaning and sentiment? It's almost like they take on lives and identities of their own. I hope your backpack is a good journey-mate for a long time.

Re: Your traveling companion

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Karen. I hope so, too. I suppose this bag is my Velveteen Rabbit. Do you know the story?

[kwintt.livejournal.com]

Yes, a well worn object that has become 'real' through the love of its owner.
It was one of my kids' favorites. And mine, too.

[teddyb.livejournal.com]

Kettle Creek Canvas made some fine stuff in their time, and I am glad you have one of their pieces. My ex used to love their stuff, and wanted to have some things custom made for me, if they'd do it. I remember stopping into the Guelph store to check the place out. I was really sorry to see them disappear, but I'm glad their work lives on in the hands of people like you who appreciate the care and skill that went into creating their wares.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Was there a store in Stone Road Mall? I don't remember.

[teddyb.livejournal.com]

I have a recollection of one right near the entrance to what was then the Eaton Centre. It wasn't in the mall itself, but in a little shop near the spot where all the Guelph buses converge each hour.

I think they had a store out at Stone Road Mall, too, but the one I remember was downtown.

My Guelph geography is quite hazy after all these years, but I seem to remember a great little bakery just down the street, on that little street that only runs for a block or so and curves around the old Eaton Centre.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I remember that bakery! Now there's a bakery two doors up from the old one, but I don't think it's the same.