The Endangered Alphabets’ European Tour, Part I: Alpha Lite

The Alphabets have had an amazing week and a half: their first European tour. Many adventures to tell, but the first challenge was simply getting them there. To ship the original exhibition in its trunk would have cost nearly $1,000 each way, so I created The Alphabets Lite: twelve slightly smaller carvings in curly maple, each of which says the word “Words.” Together with the unmissable wheely-case I bought for them, they weighed exactly fifty pounds, which meant I could take them as luggage. At least, that was the theory. That kind of luggage doesn’t go all that well with knee replacement surgery, scheduled within the week after I got back. But that’s another story. Here’s a photo of the Alpha Lite gang lounging around at home, along with their case of many colors. Note the starring position of Glagolitic, my newest acquisition…