Some surprise finds are better than others

By Joy VanderLek The Cheshire Citizen

The other day my friend Joanna found something in the street as we were walking. Before you get excited, the something she found turned out to be a hole. The hole was about as big as the palm of my hand (I have my father’s hands, I must admit. Okay, to my everlasting embarrassment, I also have his feet.) The hole fascinated Joanna. It was just sitting there in the middle of the road on a side street, off West Main. It had been there she thought for quite some time, pointing out the faded circle someone painted around it.

Did it start as an art project, I wondered. Perhaps it was someone tunneling to who knows. We peered into the hole (hoping not to get picked off by a car turning the corner). It was deep. There was a manhole near it, so I supposed it might have been a test manhole. Maybe the person who started the hole, got distracted by something else more interesting and went on their way? How often, I wonder, do people find interesting things in, on, or by the road?

Apparently, today was the day for “found” items. Today, I was shopping on the south end of town. When I got out of my car, I saw what looked like shelving, sitting on the sidewalk, across the street. Okay, my eyes aren’t what they used to be, but a friend who was with me, and may have better eyesight (that’s debatable now), also thought that’s what it looked like. The weird thing is that the shelving was not near any kind of house or structure where a person might have set it out for pick-up. Who just leaves shelving in the middle of a long stretch of sidewalk?

After discussing our household needs at length, my friend and I decided we did not really need it and left it there for someone else to scoop it up. I have misgivings about my decision now, thinking perhaps I might put it to use someday. However, I do realize that rationale has not worked in any scenario in my life – whether it’s a button to a shirt, a sheet of plywood, a length of wire, and on one occasion a series of old 12 over 12 pane windows I was going to turn into a project. Most times I put stuff where I can never find it anyway if ever the need arises. Anyone else have this problem?

I can remember many a great find I have happened upon in past years. Once while driving home through a side-street in Cheshire Village, I saw a scaled-down version of an upholstered colonial settee (perfect size for a cat) and a spindle-back chair. I could not resist. I stopped. I looked around to see if anyone was watching me. Nope. It looked as if the owner had moved and probably did not have room for these items and left them out for the trash with a bunch of other “not interesting” items. Having no fear of the rescued cushioned settee (remember the Big Bang Theory’s red chair episode?), I brought both home. Nothing moving inside the settee cushions and the chair is really well-made. I consider both huge finds! Yay!

Way back when, I lived in the city of Allentown, PA. My roomie and I lived above a pharmacy in the heart of town. She was the one who introduced me to monthly alley furniture shopping. Who knew? I was mortified, until I saw the stuff people threw away. One week, we scored a vintage, heavy metal floor lamp in perfect shape. Another time, it was a solid maple bookcase. By the time the whole apartment was furnished, I had a new job in a state many miles away and had to downsize and unload quite a few of my finds. I know someone had a good “alley run” that month.

As for that hole in the road? My friend called the town to make an inquiry. To her surprise someone else had called minutes before she did. Joanna, as I expected, did a return visit that same day. What did she find?: “The hole was still there, but there were brand new red arrows painted on the road.”