When I was 8 the best place to discover new things was in the white barn with red doors. If I offered to help clean out the storage barn each summer I had a chance to look for treasures. Things I found through out the years- A car dash board that sat perfectly above the steering wheel of the old timey truck Dad put in the back yard for decoration, An easel that was my grandmothers- nice dark wood and simple solid lines (currently part of my home decor), a wooden trunk that I worked over and lined with an old quilt top I bought at an antique auction in Alabama (also currently part of my home decor), and a kiln that was my grandmother's (still sitting in the storage barn due to weight and no guarantee that it works.
All this to say, I loved those treasure hunts, even if I had to clean to get to them. That has given me a great appreciation for old things. When I was in college I worked for a framing store. People would bring in old pictures and want them reframed. I would help pick out new framing and take the old picture back to someone to work on it. So often, I would tell the guy taking them apart to look for hidden treasures. We never saw anything valuable, but occasionally there was another picture behind the one shown. That was always fun.
Today, I get that fulfillment in several ways. 1- We go shopping in old large places that are piled with things and dig through the clutter to find the treasures. We might have to pay for them, but finding them is fun. 2- Driving through neighborhoods and looking at houses. I know that one day we will turn a corner and find the perfect craftsman/ranchstyle house and the price will be even more perfect. 3- Now this one is a fairly recent adventure. Finding treasure of connectivity. I can send a blog from my Nokia Mobile Phone and see it online instantly. I am discovering e-mail availability on my phone. I am leaning better ways to get what I want off the internet. Quite amazing really. We live in an age of mobile connectivity and I have barely scraped the surface. Before too long I plan to learn how to build websites and create flash animation for them and so on and so forth. I am looking forward to digging through this storage barn and finding more treasure as I go.
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The white barn with red doors is still waiting. As a matter of coincidense, we "cleaned" it out again about the middle of July. You wouldn't believe what we found. Lots of treasures, lots of dirt and dead things and spiders and trash. Filled a horse trailer with stuff to be burned (haven't burned it yet, wanna look through it?) You'll get to see most of the treasures when you come up this way. The kiln is still there, still too heavy to lift. I think they become treasures because someone else used them before in another era. Some people don't like that, dead peoples things. But people like you and me, we are attracted by some force that makes us imagine that they must have been valuable or they wouldn't have survived several generations. Just sitting there, gathering dust. But they were waiting for us to come along, open the door, let in the light and blow off the dust. Cleaning them up and putting them to use, that's half the fun, the other half is imagining what they must have gone through to get to us. Wow! there's no end to that. And the stories we can tell about them. Anyway, I'm glad more people don't want them, that leaves more for you and me.
While y'all go through the "Stuff" keep me in mind. I am always in need of valuable treasure. Bluejay- enjoy your time with our treasured xitman. I will be thinking of you.
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