My name is Kerri Tuttle – I’m a scientist and writer. My husband, Geoff, and I live in a 700-square-foot house in Joshua Tree, California, known as “Casa Wabi Sabi” (I run a company by the same name: www.etsy.com/shop/casawabisabi) .
Moving from a 3,000 sq. ft. loft in the city to a 700 sq. ft. house in the mojave desert was no small feat. As you well know, we gave up a lot of frills when we made the transition to tiny house living, including eschewing annual Christmas tree and most holiday decorations. However, each year around this time, our nostalgic sides emerge and so we try to re-invent the holiday traditions for small-space living and in a manner that treads lightly on the earth.
My husband is a sculptor, and several years ago, he made a giant red star as one component of an art installation that he installed in a Sacramento, California art gallery. That star had been collecting dust ever since, but this year, the time seemed ripe to dust it off, add some bulbs, and hang it on the kitchen wall. Of course that got us both in the holiday mood, so I surveyed our living room. We needed something more, I decided, and so I started stringing Christmas lights on our tumbleweed (I’d collected it some time in mid-summer and had given it center stage on top of our curio cabinet). Then, in an inspired moment, I recalled some kanji flash cards that I’d purchased for an art project from a seller on Etsy, I quickly grabbed them, and Geoff and I took turns adding cards to the tumbleweed until there was only one left. That one we added to the very top. But first, we looked at the back to read which word ended up being the “tumbleweed topper.”
The card was ‘Megumi,” which means blessing.
Kerri Tuttle, (owner, Casa Wabi Sabi) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.309264132434785.90514.286641701363695&type=3