Today is the birthday of my friend, Corrine Heiberg. This elegant bowl was made by her when she was in college. The way her husband, Elvin, tells it, it required seventeen coats of varnish–not a popular odor with Corrine’s roommate. The fragile glass balls were purchased on Corrine and Elvin’s first trip to Murano, Italy. Packed in hand-luggage, they survived a sudden hard fall from the upper rack to the bus floor and have survived ever since. I think they resemble the eggs of a rare, fabled bird in their perfectly balanced nest.