As I was sorting through some boxes in the basement, I came across a box that held a ceramic bird tree. My mother made this tree for me many years ago. She was taking ceramic classes at the time and decided to make a snow covered bird tree for me for Christmas. She had glazed it and put the snow on it and perfected it to make it look exactly how she wanted it to be. The tree was put in the kiln to fire, and that evening, the electricity went out, so the owner of the shop couldn't fire it right away. I can't remember how long the power was out, but it was long enough to allow the snow to slide down a bit. The owner didn't let Mom know what happened and just fired it. When Mom went to pick it up, she was very unhappy with it and was going to throw it out! It wasn't the perfect tree that she wanted and felt it wasn't gift worthy.
I absolutely loved it. It looked so much more realistic to me. I begged her to finish it by adding the lights and to let me have it and not toss it. She did finish it for me, but was terribly reluctant to give me the tree. She was so disappointed in it. My mother was a perfectionist and , believe me, she would never gift something that she felt was not up to her standards. However, by her doing this, I'm sure there were things people missed out on, because something she made for them was not "perfect" and she wouldn't gift it, but go out and buy a gift from the store instead.
I will admit, her needing things to be perfect had rubbed off on me some. It has taken me a long time to get over the need for perfection. Pulling out the tree brought back so many memories and how much I learned from it. Believe me, I see the tree and realize that an imperfection can hold the greatest beauty. I think the tree is much more beautiful that if it had turned out perfect.
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