For my high school graduation present my parents gave me a cedar chest. I had long admired the cedar wood of the chests that belonged to my Mom and Grandma, though I eschewed the idea of mine being a ‘hope chest’ to be filled with things in preparation for marriage. I did, however, like the idea of having a place for treasures. Today, my cedar chest is where I store the crazy quilt my Grandma Anna made for me when we lived so far away from her. It has lacy crocheted doilies and a needlepoint pillow made by her and passed down from my Mom. It houses three generations of wedding dresses–mine, my Mom’s, and my great-grandma Katie’s from 1918. A plaid Pendleton shirt, a wool hat, and wool needlepoint Christmas stockings for the kids. Baby blankets, embroidered pillowcases, dainty handkerchiefs, and a wedding quilt made by our sister-in-law. And the strangest thing–two mink collars that belonged to Chris’ Mom, complete with heads, feet, and tails! For centuries, cedar chests have been used to keep linens, blankets, anything wool, clothes, and even paperwork sweet-smelling and safe from insects.
The shaggy, rough bark of the Eastern Red Cedar tree has a reddish-brown color that hints at the brilliant red-purple wood that is contained inside of it. The wood is fine-grained, light, and durable. It has been used for fence posts, pencils, cedar chests, and linings for closets. The distinct, pleasing aroma of the red heartwood repels insects and moths that feed on wool.
Cutting the wood with a sharp chainsaw produces fragrant shavings. After Chris sawed cookies of the beautiful wood, I gathered the shavings.
For Christmas presents this year, I made sachets filled with cedar shavings to put in clothes drawers or boxes. I cross-stitched initials on the open weaved Aida cloth, sewed a backing fabric right side to right side, turned them right-side out, filled them with the sweet-smelling shavings, then hand-stitched the opening.
Red cedars are tough, drought-resistant evergreens that provide cover and food for birds and animals. They are not the most attractive tree, yet they play an important role in the ecosystem. And inside the shaggy-barked tree, the wood is beautiful, aromatic, lightweight and durable. Crafted into a chest, it has protected treasures of every sort for generations of families.
We are all treasures holding treasures. We each play an important, unique role in our families, workplaces, and communities. Creativity, compassion, emotional intelligence, leadership, and humor are just some of the many treasures we bring to the Life around us.
I thoroughly enjoy all of your posts. I especially enjoyed the last paragraph of this post. I shared it with some of my neighbors in the senior apartment community I am a part of and we would like to reprint it and post it–giving you credit, of course.
That would be fine. Thank you for reading and sharing my posts, Linda! I appreciate that.