WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:16.440 Us was to be us the weaver. 2 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:20.079 Elena sat at the loom on her porch, the same 3 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:24.320 place she had sat every afternoon for the last forty years. 4 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:28.800 The wooden frame was worn smooth where her hands rested, 5 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:33.640 the headles clicked and clacked as she passed the shuttle through, 6 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:38.439 a sound so familiar it had become a kind of breathing. 7 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:44.920 Outside the evening birds were settling into the maple tree. 8 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:48.439 The wind moved through the garden and carried the scent 9 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:52.560 of honeysuckle up to where she worked. She was making 10 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:56.679 a blanket for her granddaughter, Lily, who would turn sixteen 11 00:00:56.759 --> 00:01:01.159 in autumn. Elena had started it in space Bring when 12 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:04.319 the first crocuses pushed through the last of the snow. 13 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:09.640 She wanted it finished by September, and she was on track. 14 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.799 The blanket was already three feet long. A wide rectangle 15 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:20.079 of soft wools stretched across the loom, growing row by row. 16 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:25.959 Each color in the blanket meant something. Elena had chosen 17 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:31.079 them carefully, not by what looked nice together, though they 18 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:35.959 did look nice, but by what they remembered. The deep 19 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.280 blue was the year she learned to swim in the 20 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:42.959 river behind her grandmother's house. She was seven, and the 21 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:48.079 water was cold, and she had screamed with delight. The 22 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:51.920 pale green was the year her garden grew tall. The 23 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:57.840 summer everything bloomed at once, tomatoes and sunflowers and zinias, 24 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:02.239 all reaching for the same patch of sky. The warm 25 00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:05.760 yellow was the year her daughter was born. The room 26 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:10.080 full of light, even though it was November. She did 27 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:15.479 not plan the colors in advance. Each morning she woke 28 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:21.240 and knew which one came next. It was not something 29 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:26.520 she decided. It was something that arrived, the way a 30 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:31.479 song arrives when you are not thinking about music. She 31 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.879 would go to her yarn shelf, and her hand would 32 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.439 find the right skin, and she would bring it to 33 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:40.000 the loom and begin. 34 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:41.680 To day. 35 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:45.879 The color was a soft rose, the color of the 36 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.680 dress she wore on her first date with Arthur. They 37 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.120 had gone to a dance at the town hall, and 38 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:59.879 the floor was polished oak, and the band played too fast. 39 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.919 They laughed about it later, They laughed about it for 40 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:09.199 fifty years. Arthur had been gone for three now, but 41 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:13.360 the rose color still carried his laugh in it, and 42 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.919 when she wove with it, she could feel the warmth 43 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.800 of his hand on the small of her back. The 44 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.800 shuttle moved through the warp threads and Elena beat the 45 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:29.360 weft into place with the reed. Each pass packed the 46 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:35.159 threads a little tighter, a little more solid. The blanket 47 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:39.520 was taking shape row after row, and she could feel 48 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.800 the weight of it growing in her hands. That was 49 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:47.800 one of the things she loved about weaving. You could 50 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:54.159 feel the work building, you could hold it. Her neighbor Grace, 51 00:03:55.080 --> 00:04:02.039 often stopped by in the afternoons. Grace was younger, only sixty, 52 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:05.639 and she liked to sit in the other rocker and 53 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:11.599 watch Elena work. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they did not. 54 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:17.040 Today Grace brought a basket of peaches from her tree, 55 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:20.160 and she set them on the small table between the 56 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:25.360 rockers and sat down. That rose is pretty, Grace said. 57 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:31.920 It is the dance, Elena said. Grace smiled. She knew 58 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:35.800 about the dance. Elena had told the story many times, 59 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:39.639 and Grace never tired of it. There was something about 60 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:42.680 the way Elena told it, as if the dance were 61 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:46.399 still happening somewhere, as if she could step back into 62 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:50.519 it at any moment. Do you remember what the band played? 63 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.399 Grace asked, I do not remember the song, Elena said, 64 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:01.639 I remember the floor, I remember his shoe. I remember 65 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.240 the way the light came through the windows and made 66 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:09.800 everything gold. She passed the shuttle through again. The loom clacked. 67 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.279 A bird sang in the maple tree, a simple three 68 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:19.279 note phrase repeated. Elena had been weaving since she was 69 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:23.160 a girl. Her mother taught her, and her mother's mother 70 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:27.959 taught her mother. The loom itself was old, built by 71 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:32.399 her great grandfather from oak he felt himself. The wood 72 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:35.959 had darkened with age and use, and there were smooth 73 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:39.800 dips in the treadles where generations of feet had pressed. 74 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:44.079 Elena sometimes thought about all the blackets that had come 75 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:47.480 off this loom, all the hands that had worked it, 76 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:53.480 all the stories held in its frame. Elena sometimes thought 77 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:56.240 about all the blankets that had come off this loom, 78 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.879 all the hands that had worked it, all the stories 79 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.000 held in its frame. She thought about the women in 80 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.439 her family, how each of them had sat where she sat, 81 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:12.959 had watched the same sky change through the same window. 82 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.480 They had woven blankets for weddings and babies and cold winters. 83 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:24.319 They had woven blankets for grief too. The slow, repetitive 84 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:29.199 work a comfort when words were not enough. Elena's mother 85 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.639 had woven a gray blanket in the weeks after Elena's 86 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:36.279 Saunta died, and when it was finished, she gave it 87 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:40.360 to the church, and Elena never saw it again, but 88 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:45.040 she knew it was somewhere keeping someone warm. The sun 89 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:48.240 was lower now, and the light on the porch had 90 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:53.160 turned amber. Elena could feel the day cooling the first 91 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:59.399 hint of evening. She kept weaving. The rose rose were growing, 92 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.240 and she was almost ready to transition to the next color. 93 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:07.519 She could feel it arriving, the shift, the way a 94 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.600 season changes, not all at once, but in small degrees. 95 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.600 She chose a deep plum, the color of the plums 96 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:19.399 that grew on the tree in the back yard, the 97 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.759 tree Arthur planted the year they moved into this house. 98 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:28.240 The plums were small and sweet, and every August Elena 99 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:32.160 made jam from them, and every year she gave most 100 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:36.439 of it away. The plum color was rich and warm, 101 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:40.240 and it felt right against the rose, the two shades 102 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:44.720 speaking to each other across the rose. Grace reached over 103 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:48.399 and picked up a peach. She bit into it, and 104 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:53.560 the juice ran down her chin, and she laughed. Elena smiled. 105 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:58.480 These were the small things, the ordinary things, and they 106 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:03.160 were everything. She thought Lily about the girl growing up 107 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.720 so fast. Lily had visited last month and sat at 108 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:11.519 the loom and tried to pass the shuttle through. Her 109 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:16.399 hands were clumsy and eager, and the threads bunched and tangled, 110 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.920 and Elena had gently guided her fingers and said, not 111 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:25.759 so fast, Let the loom do the work. Lily had 112 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:30.000 laughed the same laugh as Arthur, and Elena had felt 113 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.200 the rose color stir in her chest. The blanket would 114 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:37.360 be warm. It would be heavy, in the way that 115 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.080 a good blanket should be heavy, a weight that presses 116 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:45.840 you into the mattress and holds you there. Elena imagined 117 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.519 Lily pulling it up to her chin on a cold night, 118 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:54.440 the colors wrapping around her, the memories folded into every thread. 119 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:57.919 She would not know which color meant what, but she 120 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:01.799 would feel them. Pool would carry the stories the way 121 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:07.240 the loom carried the hands that worked it silently, without explanation. 122 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:13.360 Through touch, the light faded further. Elena finished the plump 123 00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:17.279 section and began a soft cream, the color of the 124 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:21.000 milk from the cow her grandmother kept the color of 125 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.639 the sheets hung on the line to dry. The color 126 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.559 of the first snow. The cream was a resting color, 127 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:33.559 a place to pause, and she wove it, slowly, letting 128 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:38.799 the rhythms settle. Grace stood and stretched. I should go, 129 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:44.159 she said. The peaches are for you. Thank you, Elena said, 130 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:49.399 come back tomorrow, I will, Grace said, and she picked 131 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:52.159 up her basket and walked down the porch steps and 132 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.440 across the lawn to her own house, where her own 133 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:59.679 evening was waiting. Elena was alone now, but she did 134 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:04.759 not feel alone. The loom was company, The porch was company. 135 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:09.000 The birds settling into the maple tree were company. She 136 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:12.039 wove until the light was almost gone, and then she 137 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.320 tied off the shuttle and stood and stretched her back 138 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:18.840 the way she always did, and she draped a cotton 139 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:21.480 cloth over the loom to protect the blanket from the 140 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.919 night air. She went inside and put the kettle on 141 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:28.480 while the water heated, She stood at the kitchen window 142 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:31.600 and looked out at the garden. The last of the 143 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:34.919 daylight was in the sky, a thin line of gold 144 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:39.759 along the horizon. The garden was quiet, The honeysuckle was 145 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:42.559 blooming by the fence, and she could smell it through 146 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.720 the open window. She made her tea and sat at 147 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:49.639 the kitchen table and thought about tomorrow's colors. She did 148 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:53.440 not plan exactly, but she let her mind drift, and 149 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.480 the colors came to her. A soft gray, perhaps the 150 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.000 color of the morning fog that settled over the valley 151 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.799 in autumn, or a warm amber, the color of the 152 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:06.960 honey her neighbor brought over in jars. She would know 153 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:10.879 when she sat down. She always knew that the tea 154 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:15.440 was came a mile and it was warm in her hands, 155 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:19.879 and she drank it slowly. Outside. The night came on, 156 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:25.399 and the stars appeared one by one, and Elena thought 157 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.039 about all the blankets in the world, all the hands 158 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:33.120 that had made them, all the people who slept beneath them. 159 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.759 She thought about the threads, how they crossed and held, 160 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:42.960 how they made something solid from something that was on 161 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:47.960 its own, just a strand a single thread could be broken, 162 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:55.039 but woven together, they were strong, They were warm, they held. 163 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:58.879 She finished her tea and washed the cup and set 164 00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:02.000 it in the drainer. She turned off the kitchen light 165 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.039 and went down the hall to her bedroom. The bed 166 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:10.080 was made, the sheets smooth, the pillow plumped. She pulled 167 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:13.960 back the covers and climbed in, and the mattress received 168 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:18.399 her the way it always did, familiar and kind. She 169 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:22.639 closed her eyes and thought about the loom, about the 170 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:27.279 shuttle passing through, about the colors building row by row. 171 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.480 The rhythm was in her hands even now, even in 172 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:35.360 the dark, and she let it carry her down into sleep, 173 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:38.960 the clack of the headles fading into the quiet of 174 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:42.840 the night, the blanket growing even in her dreams.