I googled the name Saffron Two Cats because once we knew a
girl with that name. Surely neither her
given name or her legal name. Once I had
her card, with a phone number. She lived
in Highland Square, a casual, relaxed, arty enclave of large old homes turned
to multi unit dwellings.
We met her because she wanted to purchase a simple
loom. We were dealers for two loom
manufacturers, but had other looms in the studio from buy/sell/trade
transactions. Looms circulated regularly
in the weaving community.
When Saffron Two Cats came to the studio we had among our
looms an 8 harness, 10 shaft cherry Kyra, 45” wide. A beauty, and when it came on the market we
had to give it a try. Jan wove a little
on it, but it was not a practical loom for us.
When Saffron entered the studio she was drawn right to the loom. She sat on the bench; she stroked the wood of
the beater, the castle.
She had a friend with her who reminded Saffron she was there
to find a practical little loom to ease herself back into the world of
weaving. Saffron only said “Is this loom
for sale?” Of course it was, and for the
price we paid, $800. 1988 dollars; the
same loom today probably would sell for $1200. The practical little looms we
sold were in the $400 range. We realized
early on the friend would be purchasing the practical little loom for Saffron
Two Cats.
“Can I buy it on time?
I have $50 with me to put down. If you sell it to me, can I come weave
on it until it’s paid for?” We made the deal.
Saffron came several times, with another five, ten or twenty dollars,
and wove a little more on the warp we left on the loom.
One day she came with her brother and his truck and seven
remaining one hundred dollar bills. We
never saw her friend after Saffron’s first encounter with the loom, but I
always felt the friend was the source of the last seven bills.
I googled Saffron’s name in curiosity. Interesting answers came back. There is a Two Cats book store selling the
Firefly les Femmes poster Saffron.
Under that google listed a blog about a cat named Saffron before trailing off
into feebleness. But, the advertising
block had me riveted.
I was looking for saffron, google gave me saffron. Shoes.
Of course google knows I love shoes.
Google swept the world wide web and showed me two saffron shoes. In my
preferred style, sneakers.
The political inferences are so ironic. ‘Nuff said.
Sometimes, even the incredibly vast knowledge found on google is not enough to locate someone. But, perhaps Two Cats Saffron didn't want to be found. I imagine her to be a gentle waif dressed as a flower child. Let's hope she is still weaving away on her loom somewhere.
ReplyDeleteLiked this post. Now I thinking of changing my name. How about Bill Two Beers, Buster Two Beers, Lucky Two Beers, Handsome Two Beers, .... I think I could go on but I'll respect the comment section.
ReplyDeleteSo you bought a pair, right? I mean The All Knowing Oracle delivered.
ReplyDeleteI found a friend by Google just the other day !
ReplyDeletea lovely tale - Penny four cats ( and a dog ! )
I do not have a shoe fetish - but those saffron ones have charm. I am very glad that the saffron lady (or her brother or her friend) did pay for the loom she fell in love with. A lovely story - thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou love shoes? Well, I love necklaces!
ReplyDeleteSaffron--lovely color. May you enjoy them for many miles!
ReplyDeleteNow those are definitely stand out shoes. We had a tour memberin our trip to China that had orange shoes similar to those. We always knew where he was. I wonder what happened to Saffron Two Cats.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story. I've never seen yellow saffron. I bought saffron once, wanting to create yellow rice for a recipe I was copying, but the threads were red and the rice turned out pale, pale, pinkish. I love the saffron sneakers.
ReplyDeleteOooh! Saffron! Such a cheerful colour! Imagine having it on your feet. Where you can glance down and see it whenever you wish. Now that's a pick-me-up if I ever heard of one!
ReplyDeleteOh my god, was this in San Diego? I used to work for the San Diego Registrar of Voters and in the post-election lull randomly searched for people whose names contained "Cats" and up popped Saffron Two Cats, who was at one point a registered voter in San Diego County. That was almost a decade ago, but who could forget what's probably the best name ever, even if it was chosen. I searched for it today for the same reason you did. It always makes me smile when CSNY's "Our House" comes on and the chorus goes "with two cats in the yard" and I think of this person just sitting there.
ReplyDeleteShes still around Kent but "anonymous"
ReplyDeleteIf I rememember her given last name is/was Page
ReplyDelete