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Made of Wood

The neck of an African wooden spoon.

 

20 years ago I found myself in the Tanzanian town Arusha being pestered by a charming and friendly but very persistent street trader. I just couldn't shake him off - perhaps he would have left me alone if I'd bought something, perhaps not. The harder he tried to part me from my shillings, the more I resisted. In the end I took refuge in a shop selling various souvenirs, where the street trader was most definitely not welcome. The shopkeeper let me browse at my leisure, with no pressure to make a purchase. I rewarded him by buying a pair of wooden spoons, randomly and rather crudely decorated using (I guess) a soldering iron or red-hot poker.

 

Cheap, lightweight, and reasonably robust.

 

And since then they've been gathering dust unseen and forgotten at the back of a cupboard.

 

Until now. HMM

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Uploaded on July 27, 2019
Taken on July 27, 2019