Lost and Found

It was barely starting to get light when I left the gym today. In the middle of the parking lot, there was a guy on his hands and knees looking down into a storm drain. He had a flashlight and an untwisted wire hanger, and he was moving the wire slightly up and down in between the metal grate. He was fishing for something.

"What are you looking for?", I asked. I'm friendly like that, even in the early morning.

"Keys." There was almost an air of "Duh" in his answer.

I didn't blame him for sounding a bit snippy. He was, after all, kneeling on asphalt, in shorts, at 6 o'clock in the morning. And his keys down a storm drain? Oh man, that's some seriously bad karma coming back to him.

I wished him luck and headed towards my car, but I couldn't stop thinking about the poor guy. What a rotten start to his day. On the other hand...this parking lot is huge. Shouldn't he have walked around the drain? I, for one, avoid going anywhere near storm drains. Not because I worry about dropping things down them, but because I know that this guy will be waiting for me.

First person that names the movie will get the Reader of the Week Award. And if you know the movie, I'll bet you don't go near storm drains either.

I don't recall ever losing my keys in a big way, but both Troy and I have lost our wedding rings and remarkably, got them back.

A few years ago at Bear Lake, we were swimming out to a big trampoline that was anchored out in about 10 feet of water. To climb on top, you had to hoist yourself up a ladder that was attached to the side. When Troy grabbed the ladder with his hands and stepped with his foot, the part of the ladder that he was holding onto mashed into the rubbery side of the trampoline. When he pulled his hands free, his wedding band slipped right off his finger and bloop, sank to the bottom .

Crud.

Thankfully, Bear Lake is remarkably clear. A bunch of us were on top of the trampoline, looking down, and we could actually see the ring lying there, nestled in the sand and glistening! So close - and yet, so far away.

This excited all the men to no end. Lord of the Rings was all the rage, and now we had, right in front of us, our own little quest for THE RING. They were all diving down, the spirit of Frodo swelling inside of them. Every time they got down to the sand and tried reaching for THE RING, the sand would swirl up and it would be lost. They'd swim back up, wait for the sand to settle and then dive down again. Most of the guys gave up after a few tries, swearing that it was really more like 15 feet down to the bottom.

In the end, our friend Jason was the retriever of THE RING. Thanks, Jason!

I lost my wedding and engagement rings in our backyard while gardening. That'll teach me to do yard work. I had gloves on and at some point took them off, taking my rings off with them, and dumping them out. Possibly even flinging them. Somewhere. In. The. Yard.

Double Crud.

I'd been all over the yard and in the flower beds, weeding. They could be anywhere. I looked and looked and never found them. When I told Troy, he ran out to a rental place, grabbed a metal detector and found them in minutes. It took him longer to drive there than to detect them. I had spent hours looking for them, a little sad, but still imagining the new rings that we would surely be buying before the day was through. Oh well.

I mean, thanks, Troy!

I kid, I kid. I loved my rings and I'm very glad that he found them.

Have you ever lost something very important or valuable? Did you find it?