found.

finding stuff. the more random the better.
i have a simple collection of found stuff in my office - most are mementos from days gone by; trips to here or there. some of the found things i know where found - but i know not from which they were. i simply can't remember.

a glass 946 mL milk bottle from the Caldwell organic Dairy farm (found in a soup kitchen in Portland, Maine)

a key to a lock to a door from who knows where. found in cushion of a recliner.

a green softball jersey with the number 34 and the name 'ED' on the back. found by one of my former students - given to me. now hanging on my wall.



i can't remember where i found this stick, but it's been on my desk for years. i think it has some sentimental value. i don't remember, though.

the EXIT sign was found in an old downtown church in Lexington, KY. we were doing 'demo' work - so that the basement could be remodeled into a kitchen and cafeteria to feed the homeless.






the tire tread is from the bus tire that blew just outside of Columbus on one trip south. it took hours on that Sunday afternoon to get the bent frame off and repaired.

there we sat... outside the repair shop... killing time... wasting time... frozen in time...














the Kodachrome slide was a special find - in the attic of an abandoned boarding school that at one time housed mentally ill teenagers. it's a picture of a dairy cow. i will never forget the haunting things written on that attic wall.

the randomness of found things is what makes finding them so interesting.

the more random, the better.









there are websites devoted to the like: Found Magazine is one of them.
old picture of someone's Sunday Best
letters written to mom from summer camp.
one piece leisure suits from the 70's (known to drive the ladies wild, so says the advert)
etc.

finding stuff.
because everything's got a story.
just like in the movie Amelie, when she finds an old tin box filled with a little child's trinkets and toys. she goes out of her way - many years later - to track down that child, now a grown man - so that she can give it back to him.

finding things. pure joy. because the memories associated with the finding are simply priceless.
what have you found lately?