​Who is Sapphire Lucy? In short she is me. What is Sapphire Lucy Designs? Nothing fancy, just the name I use to credit my photography and my musings. My previous blog: I'm a Stranger Here, Too is located at www.saphirelucy.blogspot.com . That is one "p" not the usual 2--chalk that up to an unfortunate spelling mistake that I realized, too late and couldn't be undone.

I had a question about where Sapphire Lucy came from. The Lucy came from my father. My family is long on nicknames. My sister-in-law said that the one thing she had to learn about my family was that all pets have middle names (My cats are Misha Robert--French pronunciation-- and Sasha Louix) and people have multiple nick names that most often has nothing to do with their actual names. My little brother David Chris was known for many years as Chipper Lee and even has Social Security Card with this name on it.

My parents each had their own nickname for me. My mother calls me Nikki-short for Unique. I was her only girl and I am in many ways and have always been singular. My father called me Lucy. He also called me with my blonde hair his German Girl--but I hated that and wanted to be his Indian Girl--because I wanted black hair. Now I have gray hair--sigh--some things never work out.

My father was shy about expressing emotions; when I went away for college, he just patted me on the shoulder and said--Don't call home collect, too much, we will see you in October. But when I came home for summer break, I met the two new additions to the family--Nicky and Lucy--Siamese kittens that my father had gotten for my mom at Valentine's Day. She suggested he name them and he came up with my nicknames. That's when I truly understood the depths of my father's affection. The dual names caused some confusion that summer home from college. Nicky was a bully of a tom cat and was often getting called out--I would hear Nicky, Stop doing that! and I would wonder what I was doing wrong. Then there was the Lucy, come eat--I would go into the kitchen expecting something tasty only to find a bowl of cat food and my namesake daring me to try to take it away from her.

So now you know where Lucy come from. Let's get to the sapphire part. I really like the deep deep blue of sapphires. It is my favorite jewel. I had picked up a sapphire and diamond ring on sale at a jewelry store in Hiroshima one evening before I went to a small gathering at the Radiation Effects Research Facility in Hiroshima. In the course of the evening, over cards and conversation, I showed off my ring and at some point we discussed nicknames. One of the researchers there that evening asked me out for a drink the following week. When I arrived at bit late, he had ordered me a gin martini made with Sapphire gin. He said that he suspected that since I said that sapphires were my favorite gemstone, I would like the gin martini. He was right--of course I prefer Sapphire Gin over Gordon's or Beefeater's any day. He add that had been thinking of me as Sapphire Lucy all week.

I was struck by his attention to detail--I never suspected that he or anyone would remember anything I said that evening. I was certainly fuzzy on the details the next day. But he did and he associated my nickname with my favorite jewel. This new nickname is one of my most precious gifts. The relationship didn't last, wasn't really even a relationship--he was returning to the states shortly and I had another year or so in Japan.

But Sapphire Lucy remains my nom du plume & nom du photo. Most recently at a birthday party where I gave a friend a canvas of one of my photos, she encouraged me to do more with my photography. So, I bought a stamp for my photo cards written about in this posting--What Is Your Hobby.

In January, I went to The Broad, a modern art museum recently opened downtown. I saw this photo and thought, That's what I want to do with my photos! Typical right, someone sees a modern art piece and thinks, I can do that. Just to prove it, this year, I have been experimenting with adding text--some quotes from other people but I have also been working on creating my own. The response has been positive and I am encouraged. Now if only I can get a huge 4 x 5 feet not inches--piece installed in an art museum, I will know I am on to something.

But, right now, sending cards to friends and family in the Card Club is where I am at and this is where I want to be. Through the Card Club, I have kept up with the friends I have been exchanging letters with for years--Cathy and Anne--but I have also formed a very lovely correspondence with one of my mother's friends who saw one of the cards I had sent her. She asked my mom, if I would sell her a set of cards so that she could send them to her friends; pleased that she appreciated them and wanted to share them, I sent her a set--gratis. I have also received more mail in my mailbox this summer than I have since I left Japan. When I write cards, I do not expect to get a returned card. My goal is to share something that I found interesting or beautiful with others. My only hope is that it will give them a spark of joy, too. This is my hobby and I am having fun with it. Maybe down the road, I will offer up some of my photos for a profit, but right now, I am happy with what I do.

If you are reading this and you would like to become a Card Club member, send me your address. I make no promises with how often cards will come. It often depends on what I have going on in my life. If I am stressed, then I tend to send out more cards as I find this an enjoyable way to release stress. But since my focus this year is honing the art of adding text to my photos, I am sending out more than I have in the past. Just as my blog posts are sporadic, so is my photography. The problem with making a hobby into a business, is that when people start paying you money, they start having expectations and that takes some of the fun out of it.

#Photography #Poetry #MyStory