Saturday afternoon

 

I discovered a few things while cleaning out the garage.  On the back shelf was an old cardboard box.  Other than several spiders and one scurrying bug who apparently saw me coming, was a variety of things I had long ago forgotten about.

The box itself initially held cartons of Phillip Morris cigarettes.  The colors on the box were very faded, but the artwork was impressive for its time.  The first thing to catch my attention was a magic eight ball.  Of course, I had to ask it a question and flip it over to see the answer.  I asked, “Should I be wearing gloves to clean this box out?”  The little triangle floated to the window and said, “It would be advisable.”

I pulled a tennis racket handle from the box and tossed it over to the large trash can.  Why I would be saving a broken handle, I have no idea.  The next thing I lifted from the box was a small, blue notebook.  The back of it said Office Depot.  Narrow ruled composition book.  80 sheets.  4.5 X 3.25.  I remember I would carry one of these in my shirt pocket and write things as I came across them or whenever I thought of something worthy enough to write.

This seemed like the perfect time to take a break, sit down with a refreshing beverage and look though this old book.  Right there, on the first page I had written, "Never let truth get in the way of a good story."  I kept flipping through the pages just to see what had been so important to me at the time.  There were phone numbers without names and passwords to who knows what.  Partial sentences and bits of story beginnings.

On a page by itself was this note;

There is a connection between ricochet and unintended consequences, but it is not a straight line.

I stood up and looked into the box again.  There were several more of these little notebooks.  I collected them and went back into the house.  I’d finish cleaning out the garage some other time.  For now I just wanted to sit and look through these pages.  For me – this was fun.  If anyone asked why I had not finished my project, I’d simply tell them that I had been advised to wear gloves while doing it, so I needed to first find some.