treasure
I'm big on finding things, and I'm especially good at finding small, round things such as coins, crinoids, and small rusty objects like washers, buttons, etc. As a kid I had a recurring dream. In the dream I found a coin, then another coin, then bigger coins, then a whole trail of coins which led to a hole in the ground filled with coins. And I have to say, I do find a lot of coins. More than I notice my family or friends finding and maybe more than the average person.
I've often felt that I must've been a pirate in a past life. One of the lives when I wasn't busy being a Native American of the Pocahontas ilk from the northern woodlands area. My brother and I spent a lot of time as kids hiding treasure and making treasure maps. Sometimes we would just make random maps--turn left by big tree and take 18 large steps--and then go outside somewhere and try to follow them on the off chance that there really would be treasure there. Once we dug a treasure-finding hole in our backyard that was so big that we decided to fill it with water and turn it into a small swimming pool. I drove by that house 30 years later and there was still a slight depression in the ground there. But something inside me has always told me that I will be lucky some day, and I will find treasure. (All possible meaningful analogies aside, I mean treasure as in "loot" or "bag of money".)
Flash forward to this summer, much of which I've spent riding my bike to work, which gives me a unique perspective on the side of the road where stuff gathers. About a month ago, I noticed two shiny quarters in the gutter, but they were in a place which would not allow for me to stop and pick them up without endangering myself. Too many cars. I saw them there, time and again. I lost track of one of them, but this Tuesday, as I rode in, I found them both again. I kept thinking that one of these days I would be walking along that segment of road and I would pick them up. On Thursday, due to car sharing with the boy, I found myself walking home---five hot, humid miles. But at last, I would possibly collect my treasure! I knew right where they were. I did manage to find one of the quarters. The other one was nearer to civilization and had possibly been picked up, as unlikely as that seemed after it had laid there for a month.
Laugh if you will, but to me it was like finding a penny twenty-five times in one day. I was slightly bummed about the other quarter, but still. Treasure is out there, folks. I found a twenty dollar bill once, and last weekend I found twelve cents all in one place. So maybe I am finding my pirate treasure, just very slowly and over time.
I've often felt that I must've been a pirate in a past life. One of the lives when I wasn't busy being a Native American of the Pocahontas ilk from the northern woodlands area. My brother and I spent a lot of time as kids hiding treasure and making treasure maps. Sometimes we would just make random maps--turn left by big tree and take 18 large steps--and then go outside somewhere and try to follow them on the off chance that there really would be treasure there. Once we dug a treasure-finding hole in our backyard that was so big that we decided to fill it with water and turn it into a small swimming pool. I drove by that house 30 years later and there was still a slight depression in the ground there. But something inside me has always told me that I will be lucky some day, and I will find treasure. (All possible meaningful analogies aside, I mean treasure as in "loot" or "bag of money".)
Flash forward to this summer, much of which I've spent riding my bike to work, which gives me a unique perspective on the side of the road where stuff gathers. About a month ago, I noticed two shiny quarters in the gutter, but they were in a place which would not allow for me to stop and pick them up without endangering myself. Too many cars. I saw them there, time and again. I lost track of one of them, but this Tuesday, as I rode in, I found them both again. I kept thinking that one of these days I would be walking along that segment of road and I would pick them up. On Thursday, due to car sharing with the boy, I found myself walking home---five hot, humid miles. But at last, I would possibly collect my treasure! I knew right where they were. I did manage to find one of the quarters. The other one was nearer to civilization and had possibly been picked up, as unlikely as that seemed after it had laid there for a month.
Laugh if you will, but to me it was like finding a penny twenty-five times in one day. I was slightly bummed about the other quarter, but still. Treasure is out there, folks. I found a twenty dollar bill once, and last weekend I found twelve cents all in one place. So maybe I am finding my pirate treasure, just very slowly and over time.
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