Two Sides of the Same Egg

Abandoned goose egg. (Click picture for larger view)

"The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell." ~ Zora Neale Hurston (American folklorist and Writer, 1903-1960)

This egg was sitting alone in the water at Mt. Trashmore. It was a large goose egg, perfect on the outside but the chick on the inside was dead. I've known people like this; beautiful outer facade but dead on the inside. What a sad ending.

I don't like sad endings and sometimes it only takes looking at something from a different perspective to find that happier place. So, I looked at it longer and realized that this egg also reminded me of our trip to Salzburg, Austria. There we found a shop that sold only one thing, egg ornaments. Eggs had been blown clean and then the outer surfaces were hand painted and a delicate ribbon strung for hanging. There were thousands of them. All colors, with infinite variety of scenes, pictures and themes. In one section were displayed eggs painted with all sorts of animal pictures. Another section of eggs had winter scenes of Austria and various Christmas motifs. Some of the eggs were painted with various native flowers and some had added lace, feathers and sparkling sequins. There were eggs painted as marionettes, and others with song and music. The variety was endless. While most were made of chicken eggs, a few were larger like this goose egg. We picked out our eggs and packed them in, yes, egg cartons for the trip back to the US. With careful handling and packing we managed to get them back intact, only losing one. Each year the eggs decorate our Christmas tree and we relive our trip all over again. This egg would have made a beautiful ornament.

Submission for LensDay topic "egg". (end of post)