What is a treasure that’s been lost? Wow, there are several things that come to mind on this topic, unfortunately. But I can share two stories, one with a happier ending.
We love to camp and cook over the fire in cast iron. When we first got started, my husband Bill found an idea on Pinterest for a cooking grate to use over the fire. It’s made from three large L brackets, nuts and bolts. He made me one and I used it on one of our first adventures in camp cooking. It worked great. I had taken it out of the coals when we were done and set it on the ground next to the fire pit to cool.
On Sunday when we packed up to leave, I failed to check around the fire pit and ended up leaving it at the campsite. I didn’t realize it until our next camping trip, which was weeks later. I was heartbroken. He made me another one right away, but I was so mad at myself for not checking the site before we left (I do now! Double and triple) and losing the original one he made me as a surprise. The replacement is pictured above. He also made my sister one as we cook together now, and hers is holding up her cast iron in the above photo.
My second story involves a ring my husband bought me on our first Christmas. It was a gold ring with a small Harley Davidson emblem. Eight years later, several months before we got married, we had gone for a ride, and then spent Sunday working in the yard. I was up on the garage roof cleaning out the gutters when I saw that the Harley emblem was gone from my ring, which had been soldered on.
I literally sat on the garage roof and sobbed, as crazy as that sounds. It’s just where I happened to be when I noticed it. Bill scrambled up the ladder to attempt to console me. HOW would I ever find it? It could be anywhere. We searched the house, my car, even the yucky piles of leaves I had scooped out of the gutter which were now in a bucket.
Bill then suggested I check the saddle bag of my bike. It was May, so still kind of chilly to ride, and we’d gone to the South Lyon Hotel for dinner the night before. When we got there, I’d taken off my gloves and put them in the saddle bag.
We emptied out everything and to my delight, I saw a tiny flicker of gold sticking out from the plastic base at the bottom that reinforces the leather bag. It was my Harley emblem. I think I cried harder than when I lost it. I took it to a jeweler and they soldered it back on for me.
Talk about a miracle! Blurry pic, but here is the Facebook post that captures my sheer happiness.
