I See Old Things

I have a fascination with old things. I'm drawn to objects that were common back, say fifty years ago but are out of fashion and obsolete in today's world. Stuff that is rusty and crusty with age and exposure to the elements, sitting on dusty shelves, hidden in musty trunks, ensconced in a drafty barn, or even half buried under weeds at the scrap yard. If it's junky, I'll probably like it.  

My friend Carol and routinely visit places where we can look at old stuff and contemplate whether it's worthy of a new life in our possession. Maybe an old, broken wagon wheel to adorn the garden or a rusty tin box to hold safety pins. Hunting, finding and bringing home old things is fueled by that primal "thrill of the hunt" mentality that reveals itself in spring and summer as plant shopping. 

And as with plants, I've got a junk wish list too. Specifically, I've been on the hunt for an old Underwood typewriter. Not a shiny, don't touch, keep-it-behind-glass-doors-typewriter but an old, tired, rusty-crusty one. (A lot like me--tired, rusty and crusty.) For months, despite coming home with some cool treasures, an Underwood was not to be. Until a few weeks ago when Carol and I popped into an antiques store in Corvallis. There it was, on the floor under the "important" stuff as if an afterthought! 

Its rust and dust only make it more charming to me, this relic that sat in an office or a school, pecked on for years by adroit fingers. Oh the stories it could tell. 

I don't think I'll put it in the garden just yet. I'm thinking it needs shelter and close-up admiration for awhile. Eventually, maybe I'll do as do as many on Pinterest do and plant succulents in its upper portion or allow ground covers weave their way through the keys. 

Or maybe not. 

Do you see old things?

Click on this Pinterest page to see what I'm talking about.