Treasures
Treasure is in the eye of the beholder. Spend enough time wandering around the woods and you are bound to turn up all sorts of stuff that qualifies as a “treasure”. One of my favorite spots in the world to look for elk is absolutely crawling with pottery shards. Treasure! But you can’t pick those up on federal land.
I used to pick up “cool rocks” when on various outdoor adventures at a rate that was concerning to my wife. I don’t do that near as often as I used to. Still see plenty of cool rocks, but it might be a sign of aging that I like leaving them there instead of adding them to a windowsill or desk drawer.
The cool rocks that were brought home were meant to remind me of the cool places that they came from, but when you get a dozen or so rocks on a windowsill its hard to remember where they all came from…and I’m getting better at remembering the cool times and cool places without the aid of a rock.
Now this treasure right here?
This artifact was discovered on an elk hunt in September of 2022. From the “church key” hole in the top, figured it had been laying there for at least 40 years. Then I noticed the letters and spent a few minutes turning it in the light trying to figure out what wonderful food or drink had been carried in there by a litterbug so many decades before.
One more turn of the can and the answer revealed itself:
HAWAIIAN PUNCH BABY!!!! You can taste it right now, can’t you? That sweet, sweet taste of “the color red”!
I’m pretty sure an elk bugled somewhere off in the distance shortly after this treasure was discovered. So it was left behind once again.
I’ll go back and pick it up one day. But just to keep the woods clean…promise it won’t find its way to a windowsill.
