This week was my birthday, and I forwent my usual afternoon tea and gave myself something a little edgier that I’ve been considering for about 35 years…a tattoo!
I first contemplated getting one when I was a sophomore in college and had just read the book Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi. Tania had sailed around the world by herself when she was 18 and written about her grand adventures. While in Samoa, she got a Polynesian tribal band tattooed around her ankle.
This sounded very exotic to me, and I imagined that someday I would travel and have adventures and collect similar souvenirs. But I could never decide on an image that I wanted permanently placed on my body.
When I was in the Antarctic program, we spent a lot of time in New Zealand. And they have some fabulous Maori designs. I thought perhaps a fern. But I’m not from New Zealand, and I wasn’t sure that I would connect to the image in the long term.
When we were in London in 2012, I came across an article about a Scythian princess whose body had been discovered in the Altai mountains in Siberia in 1993 and was covered in stunning tattoos. I actually liked the colors of the recreated art better than the original body work. But again, not really my people.
I thought of my own ancestors. I’m mostly Norwegian, German, and English, and I love history. When we were in Iceland I considered getting a runic tattoo…but couldn’t decide on what the letters should say.
Time continued to pass, and when I hit 50, I found myself thinking about it again. I couldn’t afford a Ferrari for my midlife crisis, so a tattoo would be an excellent and affordable alternative. But what image to use? Something a little more feminine perhaps.
Cherry blossoms? Medieval art from an illuminated manuscript? How could one ever choose?? And then I saw this and finally knew what I wanted…
I reached out to a couple of local tattoo parlors, but none of them replied to my emails, or their “books were closed”, which I guess means they’re not taking on new clients?
More time passed. Then one day I was randomly looking at some more tattoos online inspired by the Sycthian princess and noticed that a particularly lovely one had been done by an artist at a nearby shop in Fairfax. I checked out their website and found that most of their artists were ladies and that they had walk-in hours from 11-4.
So I printed out a picture of my snowflakes, took my birthday off, and walked in. I told myself that if they had no availability that it was a sign and that it wasn’t the right time. I also wanted to keep it under $200.
I was met at the door by a friendly artist who perused my pictures. She told me that the regular artists charged a minimum of $200 but that she had just finished her apprenticeship and offered to do my snowflake for $150.
I thought briefly about whether or not I should wait for an “expert” but also felt that all of my mental conditions had been met, and I was happy to support this lovely person in her quest to gain experience.
Knowing this was my first tattoo, she whipped up a stencil then invited me back to her room to see how she set things up. We discussed colors, placement, and pain thresholds…and then she set to work.
Less than an hour later, I was the proud owner of my own personal snowflake…that will never melt…and I love it. I also like the fact that it looks a bit like a compass rose and the old Icelandic symbol for protection, Ægishjálmur.
It’s hard to tell the exact location from the image above, but I had it done above my left ankle on the inside…so I could see it with my socks on. 🙂
In-Flight Movie - DC Edition 