Art on the Run 
Rolling pass my feet was a ball on the run! Picking it up I saw that someone, a very long time ago, had taken fabric remnants, torn them into strips, tied them together end on end, and rolled them into a ball. This was no ordinary ball, it was art and history rolled up in one!
Turning it around and around, I could imagine the different vintage cotton dresses, the shirts, and aprons that had been made. The clothing that had became too small, or aprons soiled beyond lemon and sunshine. I could see the time it took to rip the fabric in long narrow strips, and the nimble hands to tie such delicate knots.
Why would someone go through so much trouble? It didn’t seem likely that the person created this as an art project…nor as a way to remember the clothing she had made or that her children had worn. Then as swiftly as the ball had rolled pass my feet I realized what it was!
Like a ball of yarn this was used for braiding or crocheting. The old bits of clothing had been recycled into a rag ball, which woven together would create a rag rug. Something very common during the depression era; Being creative with what you had!
Fortunately, this ball had escaped the crocheting needle and was tossed through time towards me.
Instead of calling it rag ball, or seeing it as a project yet to do, I admire it as a work of art.
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