Charm Swap!

 Yesterday I went to the Metals Guild Charm Swap. It's been awhile since I've participated in one. There's a lot of new faces around the department, and I found that I really don't know that many people still in the program at ECU. But such is the way of Academia, I suppose.

I always enjoy the swaps, and the was a big group of us, and all the charms were really great. The top image in the charm I took to swap. It's sterling silver and anodized niobium, which I made while I was at Peters Valley. I came home with this powder coated and spray painted "Watch for Deer" sign by current ECU grad Danielle James.

It's really fitting, because as I mentioned before, I hit a deer with my car this summer, which was really very traumatizing. One, because I love my car, and two, I'd never had to file an insurance claim before, which was complicated by the fact that I was far from home and by my lack of a permanent address. So, right off the bat, I was feeling hostile towards the species at the start of my summer. We were also all so terrified of getting Lyme's Disease and deer=deer ticks=Lyme's Disease= bad juju. We would all watch the deer and their grace and beauty and some one would inevitable mention that they were probably crawling with ticks. Also, they were in the gardens. And the middle of the road. And simply everywhere. It became a running joke that I wanted to smack on in the face with a frying pan. As I said, I was feeling a bit hostile. And just the two days ago, a neighbor was telling me about all the deer that run through this neighborhood.

So I think this needs to become my little anti-deer talisman. I might even hang it in my car. I'm not sure. Either way, it's funny and fitting. I feel like I traded one piece that reminds me of Peters Valley for another.

Thanks for reading! Happy Monday!