A tie that binds...

Recently, we embarked on a family vacation to Mexico. Towards the end of the flight, I noticed another person across the isle knitting. Hallelujah! In an instant I had a new friend. After all, we shared a common bond; we were linked! Our desire to create had formed an immediate unity.

I quickly and stealthy positioned myself to disembark next to her, so we could exchange a few words about knitting. Only for a moment did I hesitate to broach the subject. Imagine my joy when my new friend was as eager to engage in a quick knitting dialog. Socks! We discussed socks. One needle, two needles, one sock, two socks...and then as quickly as it started, it ended. The moment gone, the rush of our lives beaconed.

Two lives crossing for minutes, but joined by a tie that binds. A tie made of fiber, two pointed sticks, and two basic stitches; a tie that reaches back through centuries of men and women, a tie of wool, cotton, cashmere, bamboo, corn; whatever was plentiful and available, a tie that eliminates all physical and cultural differences and forms one body, one community, one bond. Yes, we are bound together by a single tenuous thread of yarn, but bound none the less. A wonderful, glorious, mysterious tie that binds....