I’ll be at Anything Huron Street Library this Friday evening from 5-7pm for the public unveiling of The Wish.

Can you see the tiny dandelion seeds that I’m blowing? The fluffy threads on top of the long stalk act like parachutes, carrying the seeds (and wishes!) off in the wind. 

When I started this project, I did some reading about dandelions and wishes. Did you know that the yellow dandelion flower opens in the morning when the sun rises? Toward the end of the afternoon, the flower closes up again for the night and the green leaves hug tightly around it. The dandelion closes when rain is coming too.

I borrowed a friend’s van to deliver the wishes to the library in Thornton. This was probably the most harrowing part of the event – worrying about them in transit – would they travel safely… would the van get broken into? Thankfully, all went according to plan. The seeds snuggled together in the back of the van in five 5-gallon buckets. This picture shows the 300 seeds just unloaded and ready to be attached to the core of the dandelion (a hand-turned wooden sphere with 300 holes in it – it is there on the left). 

I was thankful to have several assistants from the library on installation day (including Buddy, the dog). 

We began by filling the top holes on the sphere while it was stable on this large mailing tube. Next, we attached the cable to a large eyelet which is affixed to the wooden core and suspended The Wish from the ceiling. 

At this point, someone had to hold onto the wooden core because it was top heavy (and it got quite heavy; this was a hard job). Hole by hole, we glued in the bamboo stakes, adding a wish at a time.

This brave soul, David, was able to stay inside of the sculpture to insert the very last wish!

The piece was then hoisted up to the proper height (out of reach!). This is a permanent installation in Denver, so if you cannot make the opening reception, perhaps you’ll have a chance to visit it at another time. Anythink Huron Street is located at 9417 Huron Street in Thornton, Colorado.

Wish: Wishing Traditions Around the World, by Roseanne Thong

There are many wishing traditions around the world that are featured in this wonderful book. I wanted to share one with you:

Before Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, families lay out a special cloth with seven dishes on a Persian carpet, the traditional place to eat. Seven symbolic foods are placed upon it, each one representing one of the seven wishes: love, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, patience and beauty. 

Do you have your own or know of an interesting wishing tradition? Please leave a comment!