Still Life With Yggdrasil

My friend Allison has this on a necklace, she wore it a lot in college. Actually, I’m not sure sure if she wore it every single day, but that’s how I picture her in my head, and so, every time I see it on jewelry or other designs, I’d think of Allison.  Pretty sure Allison didn’t actually invent Yggdrasil, but I see it as “her” thing.

(By the way, one of our projects at work is called Bifrost, and I didn’t come up with it, but if you’re a fan of describing technical products through mythological allusions, it is kind of perfect. Studying ancient myth, you guys,  improves basically everything.)

I realize, though, that no one I know in Chapel Hill has ever seen Allison, and isn’t that terribly sad and bizarre? That Harold and Allison have never met each other? That my adventures living upstairs from Allison were all more than ten years ago? That I see my friend basically once every two years? Wait, what I meant to say is, that since no one here knows Allison, I can probably wear the same world tree without being a big copycat.

These are my new favorite earrings! I think about Allison every time I put them on, which is nice. Also, I got these on my midwinter beach adventure with Harold, when we decided that adults can drive to the ocean in January if they feel like it.

And naturally, I wore these earrings  to New York, and when I went to have dinner with my sister. We met on the Upper West Side, and once we got out of the cold, and into a wonderful basement restaurant (that turned out way fancier than I’d expected, from a basement restaurant, but then again, UWS), I peeled off my scarf and hat.

“Oh, Meggie!” my sister said, “I have those earrings, too!”