Treasuring one’s Surroundings

In “Anecdotal Tales”, stories will be told. Some will be fun, some will not. Some will be great, some will be less so. Some stories are true, some are merely possible. This is one of them.

Treasuring one’s Surroundings

“The Greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart.” -unknown

One fine day, as I was walking down a quiet street,
There was a curious man that I happened to meet.
He stood dressed quite well in a nice suit, sharp cane, and hat,
And I decided to engage him in a brief chat.

The finely dressed fellow was busy digging around
Like a canine who’s buried their bone deep in the ground.
He certainly could afford to buy fine attire
So I had to stare at his strange collection of wire.

That was not all that the man had gathered about him
He seemed to choose and collect things based purely on whim.
At his feet lay slats of wood and shards of broken glass
Along with an old hokey-novelty singing bass.

I went up and tapped the fellow lightly on his back
As he pulled a red yo-yo out of the garbage sack.
He tipped his hat, and greeted me with, “How do you do?”
Then he knelt down and placed the old toy by his right shoe.

I queried him about his somewhat odd endeavor,
The man then laughed at me for what seemed like forever.
“Oh, this hobby of mine gives me tremendous pleasure,
I’m simply adding to my vast pile of treasure.”

When I asked him why he didn’t buy things that were new
He looked at me like I had scales and my skin was blue.
“Why would I go out, waste money, and purchase new things,
When these items right here are more than worthy of kings?

“Why I could make myself a fun little mirrorball
Or a fine piece of art fit to hang up in the hall.
These toys just need a new coat of paint or a fresh string
And maybe we’ll find that fish is still ready to sing.”

I looked at the fellow there and felt somewhat wary.
It seemed this intense topic could get rather scary.
Yet I remained intrigued by his interesting quirk,
So I let him describe the joys of his wacky work.

“I take things that others have callously tossed away
For they believe these items are all out of play.
I say that there’s still life in all of these well-made parts
Even if they’ve got themselves some broken plastic hearts.

“And isn’t that true of all people in the world too?
I can see that you know what I mean, you truly do!
Folks that are called ‘ruined’ or ‘a little banged up’
Are the folks that I talk to over a coffee cup.

Photo from publicphoto.org

“The people that have had to come out of their dark shell,
They’re the ones who really have a great story to tell.
If a person doesn’t look too refined or pretty,
I just assume they’ve spent all their time being witty.”

The man tipped his hat, grinned, returned to his hunting,
And he pulled out a ball that was ready for bunting.
He gathered his things, waved, and walked off with a smile
And I still think about that man once in a while.

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