Three is the number of items of street treasure I've found this fall. Street treasure being things that I ride past on my bicycle and stop to pick up.

#1 was a hat. Very much like the hats I keep losing and finding: Simple black tuque. I rode past it 3 times on my way back and forth to work. By the fourth time I figured nobody was coming back for it so I picked it up. After a couple washings it is now my favorite hat to wear --just as its predecessors were before I lost them.

#2 was a scarf. I already have the greatest scarf in the world (that Heather made for me), but after riding past a black bundle of ice covered cloth a few times curiosity got the better of me. I brought it home and offered it to Heather after a few washings, now we each have a really good scarf.

#3 was a dollar. I didn't really ride past this and wait to see if it would be reclaimed by it's owner --figuring it would more likely blow away or be claimed by the next person who walked past it. I find change all the time. But a whole dollar was kind of new. It was like the first crap out of the vending machine at work that day was free.

But it was easy come/easy go however as I lost 2 dollars a few nights later when a lady stopped me on my way to work at 3am and told me how desperately she needed gas for her truck to get all the way back home to south Buffalo. I gave her a couple of dollars and she then reminded me that a couple dollars doesn't buy very much gas. So then I stopped talking to her and continued on my way. I'm pretty sure I'm not responsible for her having enough gas in her vehicle. Me and gasoline have little to do with each other.

Anyway, finding stuff on the street is fun. I don't think I've had to buy any winter gloves or scarves in the last couple years. (I bought a couple hats last year when I was walking past a sale on hats for $1.50 each.)

3

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photo by Jerome Lindberg