The Treasure Hunt

All of my dogs were taken care of this morning with the rising of the Sun. That part of me taking care of them they might not like, because I get 'em up early. But the rest I think they appreciate: fried egg sandwiches for all five of them this morning.

After that I have been steadily working on school work until I had to walk Virgil and Stella again a few minutes ago. The day is absolutely perfect weather so far. Later in the afternoon we will have a scorcher, but for now it is wonderful outside!!! High 70's, gentle breeze, the Sun was warm on my face and back... but not yet hot. This day seems to hold so much promise? It's a shame that I will either be inside at home, else at Ivy Tech this afternoon for an appointment to register for fall classes.

From yesterday's blog I wanted to include one very obvious thing I left off my eclectic mix of odd furnishings in my office. I mean, talk about the elephant-in-the-room. Have you ever seen something so often that it seems to almost disappear. An example of that would be if you've been married for a very long time and this is what often-times happens with your spouse? I mean, you know that they are there, and they might even be talking... but you really don't see a thing and all that you hear is white-noise. Kind of like that. (lol)

Behind my chair as I sit and type I have a safe, mid size, but very heavy. It is hard to move around and that is why it sets in one spot... the same spot that it has been in since the day we moved here. Before that it occupied the same spot (once it was set down) in all of the different houses we have ever lived in. I purchased it when the girls were babies so it is about 33 years old. Several years ago I needed some heavy-duty casters for something I was building and I took them off of the safe. Now, it can only squat where it is planted!

Late last night after posting I had gone to the kitchen to get a cold drink and when I returned the first thing I saw was the safe... and I thought, how in the world did I forget to write about something as big and ugly as it is. I am so used to it being there that I am not even certain if I have opened it since we moved here. The combination is an easy one to remember because it can be logged as a telephone number: 944-8366. Although that is the numbers for the safe and in their proper sequence... that is not the block sequence you would use to spin the dial and open it up. In reality though it wouldn't matter if I lost all that is in it. There is absolutely nothing of monetary value: there is, however, one piece in  it which holds great sentimental value for me.

Late last year I separated and sorted through all of my old gold, silver coins, and bars that had any real dollar value and I sold them. (Besides, I never kept those in my safe anyway.) Last night I pulled out my papers and glanced through what was still in the safe. Among other things there are rejection letters from story ideas, my passport (in case I am ever able to enact my great escape), a canceled check, dated 35 years ago in the amount of $225.00. That check was from another of my failed inventions. $225.00 today is nothing, but for me and back then it was a lot of money to waste.

There was that one thing I found which would only be of value to me. It was  from another of my failed tries at inventing something. This time though because of the money I had wasted in trying to get other projects started I thought I would have a notarized document drawn up... then, I would try to sell my idea rather than a prototype invention. My dad was a Notary Public and he signed the papers that were drawn up and affixed his state seal to them. (That idea, like the others I had were busts but his signature and seal to me are still important.)

Speaking of my dad... I didn't mention it on yesterday's blog but not because it was an oversight. I just didn't include it because to me it was not weird to have it, like some of the other things I have which obviously are. On the very top of my bookshelf is a properly folded American flag. This was the flag soldiers had covered his casket with: after removing it they had given it to me.

I'll finish with what I wasn't going to include. Now, though... who cares? (lol) My desk is a glass and steel frame desk and it has two tiers. Approximately 15 inches in front of me and at about the 1:00 o'clock position sets a ????? One of my granddaughters, Rachel or Hallie (upon first seeing it) said, “Papaw, it looks like an exploded baby doll head.”

Now, do you see why I was reluctant to admit having it? One day I was scavenging along the Ohio river when I saw a white piece of bone (?) half buried in the muck. I extricated it and upon closer examination I found that I had no idea on Earth what it was? I couldn't even tell for certain if it was bone or merely a man-made plastic. It had been in the water for some time though because algae and some crustaceans were growing on it. Well... I certainly had my prize for the day! (lol) It has a nice round globe on top and great looking growth(?) protruding from the bottom of it. Pocketing it I headed for home.

As soon as I got home I took it into the kitchen for cleaning. When Deb saw it she was freaked out and wouldn't go near it. The thought crossed my mind to try and make her touch it... then, if she refused I would chase her through the house with it in my hand. Then I thought, “I'm probably too old to be doing that sort of stuff, and if I'm not, well... she is!” Instead of that, I put it in a pot with some chemicals which I have mixed before that are good for cleaning things that I find. I brought it to a slow boil while scrubbing it and it ended up being perfectly bleached.

However, even though it was now pristine it had coated her pan with a black oily residue that will not come off. The best advice I gave her that day was that she probably shouldn't use that cooker again because I wasn't sure... but, it would probably contaminate whatever food was in it? As usual, that day she was exceedingly happy with me (:

I just realized something as I glanced around the room again. When I die there is not a single thing I have in this room that will be worth anything to anyone else.  Really, it's nothing more than just an odd collection of junk. There are a couple of metal jars on one of my shelves and I just looked inside to see what is in them? They are full of small rocks which (over the years) I have collected from various hikes and jaunts through the woods.

My latest addition to this junk room, which now adorns a library shelf is a small red and white plastic cup with a lid. When I got home from work this past Sunday it was sitting on my library table. I opened it and it is full of sand from the beach. Three of my very young granddaughters who just came back from the beach had brought it for me. They knew I didn't get to take Virgil there and I suspect they didn't want me to be disappointed? God bless them!

I put a few grains of sand on the top of Virgil's head and told him that's what we missed out on. (lol) Recently I saw a television commercial that will come in handy to the person who, one day, will be responsible for cleaning out this room. (1-800-GOT-JUNK)