I picked up this card in a parking lot at one of our state parks after a hike a few years ago. Why do I still have it? I guess I’ve not completely given up my tendency to be a bit of a pack rat, especially intriguing little odds and ends.

When I was a child, I tucked things away in my room in little boxes or containers and thought of them as my treasures. One time I went to the Rose Gardens and created a little hole in the ground for some of these tiny treasures on a little hill just up from Dupont Avenue. I covered it over carefully and delighted to come back now and again to see if they were still there. The day inevitably came when the hole came up empty. I consoled myself with the thought that perhaps another pack rat had come upon my eclectic cache and felt like they’d struck the mother lode. I know it would have been a dream come true for me to come across something like that.

Anyway, the design on the back of the card appealed to me, the owls and other birds taking their places on the ornate circle of swirling leaves on vines. The other side shows what a beating the card had taken, being driven over at least once, I think. Someone lost just one card while they were at the park, the three of hearts. Did they go home to play a game and mourn to find out that their favorite deck was missing a card?

I actually lost one of my favorite barrettes on one of those hikes. It must have gotten caught on my hat and fallen to the ground when I took the hat off in the parking lot before getting into the car – I didn’t notice it until later. I went through the kind of mourning that you might do for a very trivial but valued thing. There was a short and meaningful memorial service that took place over only a few seconds in my mind. Did someone find that barrette and see it as a treasure? Or was it pitched unceremoniously in the nearest trash bin? Perhaps even now, someone is writing a blog post about the lost teal-colored barrette. Perhaps…

As for the card, I put it in the front zipper pocket of my Bible holder and there it resides to this day. Every once in a while I take it out, admire it, and put it back.

I’ll be burying this in a hole on blog hill in the morning.

When we got back from our time away, we discovered we were not alone in our house. Of course Luna was there to greet us with her urgent and accusative yowlings and meowings. It disappoints her greatly that we don’t just drop everything immediately and focus all our attentions on her, as if unpacking the car and trailer should wait for another hour or day entirely.

But when I did finally sit down and greet her properly, little flies were flitting about like they owned the place. Lots of them. Some investigative research showed that we had mistakenly left some coffee grounds in the compost bucket when we left. I took a peek into it, and seeing hordes of the tiny winged invaders, quickly shut it and took it outside where it sat until somebody cleaned it out. If you have guessed that this “somebody” was not me, you know me well.

Still, we were faced with the remainder of the army in the house. A dim memory surfaced…didn’t my friend Sherri have some sort of liquid trap in her house for just this kind of thing? The Internet came to my rescue once again: 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish soap, covered with plastic wrap that has holes in it. It’s been awfully satisfying to look at each day and see more fruit fly carcasses at the bottom. All’s fair in love and war.

We also got a couple store-bought fruit fly traps. They look like inviting little fruit fly hotels, but the fruit flies seem to prefer the homemade trap.

Now you know what to do if the fruit flies invade your house, may it never be.

“All the teeming life with wings are unclean to you;
they shall not be eaten.”
Deuteronomy 14:19

You’ll get no argument from me.

Fruit flies will infiltrate this post in the morning – it must be destroyed.

What do these three books have in common? Aside from the fact that I received them as used books, very little…except for the fact that I found within each of them something left by the previous owner. I actually love it when that happens, so much so that I’m tempted to plant things purposefully in books we give away.

Here are the intriguing enclosures I found within:

The watercolor class book contained part of a letter written in thin, spidery handwriting and signed by Lisa. I read the letter – no simple feat with that handwriting – and found a reference to the topic at hand: “Thanks for the water color paper it’s so nice to have the real stuff as the paint behaves totally differently.” And later Lisa adds, “I’m amazed at what I’ve been able to learn from a book. I’m just so impatient!” She tells her correspondent of their plans to go to Athens, and then to Paris, Naxos and ___ on the way to Turkey. From a reference she makes later, it sounds like she’s traveling with her Dad. I’m imagining that she’s writing to her sister, or maybe a best friend, someone who gave her the Watercolor Class book, knowing she was going on an interesting world tour where she’d be exposed to a lot of art. I hope Lisa got more out of that book than I did. I might ending up giving it away, too, passing Lisa’s letter on to the next person.

The King’s Daughter (which I just read for the first time and LOVED) had a name inside the cover telling me that it was previously owned by a fellow named Andy. The book contained a tiny piece of paper on which is neatly printed the German words: “Ich habe ein Frage.” Very intriguing! I googled it and found out it means “I have a question.” Then I turned the piece of paper over and found the neatly printed words “I have a question.” Ha ha! I have a question, too. Andy, did you put that in the book because it was appropriate to the content? Are you learning German and making little flashcards for yourself, one of which got made into a tiny bookmark? Questions abound, Andy!

Lastly, the Peanuts cartoon was found in The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party. Sally says to Charlie Brown “What are the words you hate most to hear?” Snoopy thinks his answer: “You stay home now and be a good dog.” Perhaps the previous owner of the book was a dog lover who found Snoopy’s thoughts to resonate strongly based on his/her own dog. Or maybe it was just a random comic strip that was readily at hand to use as a bookmark.

If you’re a curious person like me, these little oddments are like finding a tiny pieces of treasure. What kinds of things have you found in used books? Do tell!

I’ll probably stuff this in a book and give it away in the morning.