crown of thorns...

A co-worker was talking a week or so ago, abut plans she is making for doing some special things at her church for Easter. One of them being getting someone to make a big wooden cross to set out on the church property, for people to see when they come to services next Sunday. And asking for advice abut how long the piece of purple fabric she would drape over the cross piece should be for best visual effect.

And asking me where she might be able to find something to make a crown of thorns from. I told her I could do that. So I went off in the woods, down the hill, behind the house, several days ago. Looking for something sufficiently vine-y and thorny. I had my gloves and clippers to cut some pieces I could loop together to make into a wreath shape, but had a hard time finding what I needed. The things that were flexible enough to be able to wrap around in a circle to make a wreath/crown didn't have thorns, and the vines I could find with thorns big enough to be easily visible, were so thick and difficult to bend, they were not shape-able. I finally found a couple of pieces I thought would work, and looped them together, after several puncture wounds.

It was probably a bit  bigger than 'actual size': you know how things are portrayed in photographs with a disclaimer that states they might appear in the picture as a bit larger than in real life? Sort of 'enhanced for your viewing pleasure?  I just wanted to be sure that the looped vines would fit on the top-most part of the post that will be the cross, and rest on the horizontal piece. When I took it in to work and gave it to her, I think she had probably forgotten about her request and my response. I got a sort of 'blank look' when I handed it over, and said, 'be careful, it will hurt you'.

All this to say: this is that same Mean As A Snake vine I've complained so vehemently about. Written about trying to dig the huge, house-cat sized tubers, sweating and stomping and swearing over the thorny smilax vines. When I have dug up the source, rooting around in the dirt, almost to the point of accusing the plant to be evil, so mean and grabby it is almost from the pit of hell: that's what I used to make the Crown of Thorns.