Wednesday, September 3, 2014

New Jerseyana, Exhibit 5: Love's Labor Lost?

I was down on the Jersey shore this past Labor Day weekend.  The family had departed and I was left alone waiting for a Home Despot crew that was supposed to install some replacement windows but never showed up.  So, after hanging up the telephone at the conclusion of an unprofitable conversation with HD home services, I went for a beach walk which is healthier than fuming about a crew of "no shows" that cost me a vacation day.  Now, as I walk the beach, I tend to look for interesting items:  odd sea shells, bits of stranded fishing gear, this and that; nothing particularly valuable has ever come from this but I always enjoy the walk and the excitement of finding "stuff".  Today was a bit different.  Today I found a message on a clam shell:


Well, hello indeed.

No doubt "Medic" Juan was hoping that his shell would be found by a beautiful and inquisitive young girl.  But as it is with the vagaries of both love and objet d'art left on the beach, it was found instead by a grumpy old diarist attempting to walk off his frustrations.   I stopped and picked it up.  After reading the message, I was tempted to see how well it would "skip" if I threw it against the incoming tide.  Instead I put it in my pocket for the ride home.  But what should I do with this special shell?  I could place it with the multitude of shells which my renters have collected and abandoned in my flower gardens.  My wife would probably say that it looks "cute" but the romantic in me suggests that I should put the shell back out on the beach, perhaps on a day filled with import for lovers like St. Valentine's Day.  But in February who would see it?  It would be a shame for Juan's shell to strike out twice, and perhaps permanently. Perhaps I'm over thinking this.  Perhaps Juan is already back in sunny Spain, drinking wine and breaking hearts.  What should I do?  What would you do?

2 comments:

  1. LOL. My granddaughter likes to write her name on clam shells and then hopes to find them again months later.

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  2. If she was a little older perhaps I could've put her in touch with Medic Juan! They seem to have something in common.

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