c. Melon Images
Really not a bad kid
“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”
— Madeleine l’Engle
You can be any kind of collector you want, really. You can find that odd type of contentment wherever you decide to look for it.
You might be the sort who says things like “mint condition” and “impeccable” and “appreciating in value.” You might add numbers excitedly in your head while you scan the boxes stacked neatly on your shelves, just before you shut off the light.
You might be one of those folks who are slowly isolated by stacks and mountains and roomfuls of old loves, your dusty old doll parts and yellowed newspapers and Mason jars with rusted rings. Maybe you remember where some of them came from. Maybe you don’t.
Maybe, instead, you’re someone who just happens to notice an old toy watching you from a flea-market table. You aren’t usually the buying type, but something about that toy, with a little bit of paint loved off there along the side, just won’t let you be.
The touch of the metal sets off a quiet little click inside you, someplace deep. And before you know it, you’ve got a few bucks less in your pocket, you’re holding that treasure like you’ll never let it go, and you’re leaning back over all those years to pick up a piece of your childhood on the sidewalk, all sunshine and skinned knees and the smell of cut grass.
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, Jenn Wilson and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
