Golden Days and Dreams of Amber

A short drive from where I live in Northern Virginia, is a parkland situated along the banks of the Potomac River. A trail winds along the edge of the river, enticing one to take a lovely long walk. A few miles downriver are the thundering Great Falls, which stopped Captain John Smith in his journey up the Potomac centuries ago. In this park, the river itself is wide and shallow and slow, dotted here and there with rocks and rills and a few deep pools in which gaggles of geese and rafts of ducks eat and play in the clear water. What was to have been a short stroll, turned into a nearly three hour walk because I couldn't bear to turn back. Strolling along the shaded path, with no sounds other than birds in the surrounding forest and waterfowl in the river, with the Potomac sparkling in the sun, was heaven. The weather was perfect; the park was perfect: I fell in love.

I also fell in love with a strand of large Baltic amber beads which I found in a nearby shop recently. These beads look like drops of warm sun that encapsulate the golden and reddish colors of fall. I lived in Poland many years ago, and I have regretted ever since that I didn't buy trunkfulls of amber then. I do remember walking along the Baltic sea and finding delicate drops of amber on the sand. Amber is wondrous: It is so ancient that the trees that gave off the resin that became amber no longer exist. The resin formed 25 to 50 million years ago and enfolds within itself the world that existed at the time. Homer speaks of amber as a gift fit for royalty in the Odyssey, and an amber room was indeed given to Peter the Great of Russia by the Prussians. It is said to bring luck to its bearer, whether royal or not. And this amber strand was big, it was golden and full of red and yellow inclusions as if it is reflecting a fall day millions of years ago. I couldn't wait to make a necklace with it.

I began with a beautiful, large center bead. That bead is surrounded by tiny Czech glass seed beads, and two facetted Czech crystal rondelles of a hue the color of yellow-green leaves in autumn. From that gorgeous center bead, graduated sizes of more amber beads continue, separated by small Czech glass rondelles and cathedral beads -- also showing the gradual onset of autumn in their sparkling green and yellow depths. To reduce the weight and the cost of the necklace, I added beads of amber and citrine glass whose golden color perfectly mimics the beautiful amber. Finished off with an adjustable 14-karat gold-filled chain and a handmade 14-karat gold-filled clasp, the lucky person who ends up with this necklace will indeed feel like royalty. Look for it in my etsy shop soon.