It's just Worm Spit!

Giggle number Two (BTW these are not in chronological order)

Some folks really have a way of expressing themselves in a way that is both succinct and humorous. I love these little tidbits because while they never fail to make me giggle, they also paint the exact picture necessary. It is also funny when they come out after some slightly related remark is made elsewhere. This was one of those times that will be etched into my memory.

I believe it was the last day of dyeing and stitching for our costumes that I spaced the errands I was supposed to run before getting to my friend's house. Since those errands weren't run I got to the house early. Color me embarrassed when I came into the house during a phone conversation. My hostess was all kinds of gracious, I was just feeling dumb because I forgot stuff, again. (The forgetting things is a whole Other story.) She brought me chai and I waited patiently really trying to just relax and not listen in on the conversation. That is until I hear, "I don't know why silk items are such a high priced commodity, it's just worm spit." This was said very matter of factly and I had to cover my face and bite my tongue so my laughing wouldn't interrupt the conversation I was supposedly ignoring. Thank goodness my mouth was not full of the yummy chai!

This week was also the week that "The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot About That" was repeating the silk thread episode.In this episode one of the children needs silk thread to repair her dress and the Cat takes them some silly place to meet silk worms. The worm is upset at being called a worm because she is in fact a CATERPILLAR. The nerve of us for mistaking the two!

Now if you've gotten to know a little of how my mind mashes things you'll know what comes next.I hear 'it's just worm spit' and think 'No they're caterpillars'. I try really hard not to say things like this out loud, because I don't want to be that kind of nerd. But I think them all the time. So now I have in my head this little ditty "Worm spit, Caterpillar Spit it doesn't matter it still feels nice." Yeah, we won't take that any further.

Telephone conversation finished, chai refilled and silks ready to be prepared for dyeing I grin at my friend and say "So it's just worm spit eh?" She bursts out laughing. When she gets herself back under control tells me "But it really is." We then go into the discussion about how this protein that is pretty readily available comes at such a high price in retail markets. I do point out that it is actually the work involved between the silk as fabric and the silk as finished product. There is a lot of prep work, care and special treatment that silk requires that other fabrics such as cotton do not. All of our hard work to create a set of simple yet pretty costumes proved just that.

Now I can honestly say that I have a beautiful costume to dance in that is mostly comprised of beautifully dyed Worm Spit, (or Caterpillar Spit if you'd rather.)