Unstitched panorama

Tivoli’s stitched panorama reminded me of these (imitation) Victorian cards I took to Lesotho with me in 1992. No matter which card you use, they all seem to be a flowing panorama. I don’t remember the word for these cards. Does anyone know?

Knowing I wanted my research to focus on Basotho women, I took a number of small “toys” in my suitcase to occupy their children while I developed relationships: these, some fluid-and-glitter-filled “magic wands,” some marbles, some tiny “hot wheel” cars, and some decorated bandaids. They all came in handy in that time before email or internet and in that place where electricity was a sometime-thing. 

I used the cards for mutual language courses: the children would name objects on the cards in Sesotho to help me learn their language, and I would say the word in Sesotho and then in English. Many of the people and events depicted on the cards were familiar to the children—horses, carts, fields, livestock. I kept the cards and they became favorites of my two Basotho daughters when we moved to the USA. They were a kind of link for them to their old life.

Extra: in FaceTime homeschool, Bella and I have been studying crystals for the past 2 weeks. She made a gallery of the ones she has learned to identify and the two (on foil) she has made herself. (The cardboard box she used for her gallery has holes in the bottom, through which the tablecloth on her dining room table shows.)

Bonus for all of us: The National Theatre (of the UK) is now offering FREE access to one play a week from their archives. I am transfixed and fascinated by their Jane Eyre this week, and looking forward to Treasure Island next week. There are some unexpected gifts of the pandemic from a great many unemployed artists to those who can enjoy them.