The genus name Aquilegia is derived from the Latin word for eagle (aquila), because the shape of the flower petals are said to resemble an eagle’s claw.  “Columbine” is derived from the Latin word for dove (columba).

I snipped this columbine from my garden yesterday and plunked it into my own sterling silver monogrammed baby cup.  I was grasping for imagery that would communicate my tragically vintage sensibility to my phenomenally hip graphic design friend and artist Mark Wolfe.

What happened next was a rather astonishing meeting of the minds around classic-meets-current…..Stay tuned, the new blog header, tagline, and logo for Essays on Childhood are just around the corner!

Though we are not using the image of a columbine, I love that this flower is the foundation of the color palette.  Something about the dove (peace) and the eagle (war) symbolism fits both the tender and the earth-shaking moments of all of our childhoods.

I look forward to sharing the new look with you soon.