Relative Something

Have you noticed the feature I recently added that is now available in the margin on the right? “Previous Somethings” allows you to more quickly navigate to archived posts. I’ve needed to avail myself of the option more and more lately as my number of posts climbs and I strive to remember if I have already written on a topic or not. Often times, as I pause to consider what title for a post will materialize in my mind, the words that arrive seem too familiar, as if I’d already used them. Heaven forbid that I use the same title more than once. You’d notice right away if I did such a thing, wouldn’t you? Do you have a sense of deja vu over the subject?

Regular readers of Relative Something might recall I wrote about the same problem of fretting over duplication just a week and a half ago, except I was more focused on the entire topic of whole posts. (You can use the “select month” pull-down menu to reach it! It was July 28th.)

That whole post was about forgetting, and on that subject, I have something to report! But it’s not about forgetting. I was going to write that it is about remembering, but that’s not entirely correct, either. I didn’t actually remember where some of my lost things had been left, but I have recovered three items in the last few days! It is a whirlwind of returned treasures. I am going to focus now on how often I find lost items and see if it keeps happening to me over and over. I must have developed some special power or something!

On Saturday, up at the lake, we were out for a walk to explore the grounds with guests and when we arrived at the tennis court to check on the eagle’s nest, (when did I last write about that?) there, lying amid the tossed balls and scattered driveway chalk, was the long-lost favorite water bottle from my bike. It is possible that it got left when I was down there playing tennis with Julian so long ago. I’m more inclined to believe that I left it somewhere at the cabin, because there should actually be two bottles, and then someone else borrowed it to use down at the courts. It doesn’t matter. I’m just happy to have it back, and I’m enjoying the surprise of finding it.

Then on Sunday, my eyes fell upon the missing nail file that I got from my mother many, many years ago. It was just waiting to be found in a rather logical place that entirely defies my ability to understand, having missed it many times in earlier searches. Maybe it, too, had been moved by someone other than me in the intervening time.

Lastly, just last night, I learned where my missing bike lock had been. I had left it in Gary’s car at the end of the June bike trip. I wracked my brain over finding where I misplaced that item. Searched high and low in all the possible places around the house and garage, multiple times. No wonder I didn’t find it. When I got home, I set it precisely in the place that I first looked for it on that day I discovered it missing.

It brings about a good feeling. It resembles the reward you feel when you snap that jigsaw puzzle piece into place to fill a void you’ve been laboring over for some time. Now I find myself eagerly waiting to discover what item I’m going to find next!