Overheard at Chipperfields' ... Part XLVI ...

It was a quiet night in the shop. Ross was sitting in the corner looking through the cardboard box on the table in front of him. It was marked "lost and found." On his head was a knitted rainbow striped ear flap hat.

Ross was so intent on searching in the box he failed to notice The Rev and one of the other regulars until they both sat down at the table with him.

"Lose something?" asked the regular.

"I like the new look," commented The Rev as he sipped his coffee.

"Huh?" said Ross, looking up with a perplexed look on his face, then his eyes looked up wards as he remembered the hat on his head, "OH, this ..." he reached up and removed the cap as he continued speaking, "I just tried it on ..."

"Don't take it off," said The Rev, a slight smile curling the sides of his mouth, "I think it makes you look good ..."

"Reason enough to take it off," said Ross, looking embarassed.

"So, what are you doing in the lost and found bin?" asked the regular.

"Oh just looking to see if there is anything there that we can return to the rightful owner," commented Ross, "do you realize the things people leave behind?"

He paused as he dug through the bin once again, "I mean, there are hats, gloves, mittens, scarves and paper back books ..." He dug a little deeper, "There is SO much stuff in here. You just name something and I'll bet you that it is likely in here ..."

"Like your sanity?" said The Rev softly.

"Yup, it's likely in here somewhere," answered Ross, clearly not listening ... the snort of both the regular and The Rev drew his attention, "Hey, I heard that ..."

"Too late," said the regular, as he and The Rev continued laughing, "you're busted."

"The voices been telling you to put on weird hats again Ross?" asked The Rev, "or just telling you that we're all against your again?"

"No nothing like that," answered Ross with mocking seriousness, "the voices keep telling me to do crazy stuff like sell stay-cation kits and order special coffee lid plugs for the collectors' market ... but they don't tell me that you're against me ... mind you they don't tell me you're for me either ..."

"Okay," saidThe Rev, his eyebrows rising slightly, "you stick with that ..." He then laughed, "and have fun."

"Absolutely," said Ross, "if it's not fun, then I'm doing it wrong ..."

"So, WHY are you digging around in the lost and found and wearing the goofy hats you find in there," The Rev asked changing the subject slightly, as his hand motioned to the ear flap hat still sitting on the table, "I thought you'd be busy restocking the juke box."

"Oh I picked up a ball cap that was left here earlier, and when I tossed it in the box, I just noticed how full it was ..." Ross paused for a moment, "and one thing lead to another and I just started looking through it ..." Ross' voice trialed off as his hands rested on the side of the box.

"The lost and found box is a good metaphor for life," commented on The Rev.

"How so?" asked the regular.

"Well, we kinda plod along through our days and periodically we leave something behind," The Rev said, "someone may pick it up and claim it themselves, or they may take it to a Lost and Found box somewhere and drop it in. If we notice we've lost it, something that isn't always assured. We might come back and look for it."

"And reclaim it?" offered Ross, his hands still resting on the sides of the box.

"Not necessarily," replied The Rev, "that's the strength of the metaphor. Sometimes it's not worth turning back to claim it. It might be too far, we might have too many places to look. We may not even be sure where we lost it. So we just move on." The Rev paused to sip his coffee before continuing, "But other times we come back and as we start to look for what we thought we lost we find other things that we've misplaced along the way, or we realize that we are actually missing other things ..."

"The digging around triggers something?" asked the the regular.

"Precisely," answered The Rev., "or we may even find something in the box that we like better and if it isn't claimed after awhile we can claim it for our selves ..."

"I think you better start cutting back on the coffee there Rev," said the regular, not sure of what else to offer.

Silence descended on the table ... Ross picked up the rainbow hat and returned it to his head. The Rev and the regular noted the action but for a long moment said nothing.

"You know Ross," said the regular, "If you look hard enough you may actually find the mind that you seem to have lost ..."

"Yeah," commented The Rev, "you may even realize how much you miss it ..."

Ross was about to speak as Bonnie cruised out of the back room and noted him sitting at the table with the hat on his head, as Ross opened his mouth it was Bonnie's voice that broke through: "What in God's name are you doing Ross?"

Ross looked at her. Looked at the two sitting at the table, and as they burst out laughing he removed the hat and put it back in the lost and found bin, which in turn he picked up and began to carry back to it usual place near the front door. As he moved he said simply, "Nothing dear ..."

In the background The Rev and the regular were howling with laughter.