what we leave behind

 I was talking with my Mom on Mothers day, she is near 90 now, and remembering the things of my childhood. She was remembering about the flowers I would bring her for Mothers day and other occasions. Those flowers were always picked wild. We didn't have money to go to the florist shop! That was a luxury reserved for very special occasions, like getting your date a corsage. And that didn't happen often. But anyway, I had mentioned to her about picking those flowers we called lady slippers. They bloom between the months of May-June. We were told it was illegal to pick them but that is only applicable on federal land. Depending upon the state, the rules vary. 

 From that grew a conversation about the various plants and bushes that grew " back home. " Mom lives in Georgia now and I in Maryland so some of the plants are different. Mom was feeling a bit sentimental I think as she described the plants that grew in her yard when she was a child. I could remember a few of them from going to Grandmas' house. I remember the grape vine, the lilac bushes, dandelions and some strange plant that looked like immature bamboo, still not sure what that was. After Grandma passed the house sat empty for some time. Eventually it was set on fire by some vandals, that's what I heard. Whatever the case, the house no longer exists and the lot sits empty these days. I'n betting some of those plants still live there however. I'm betting they could be located.

 It's been more than fifty years since I was at Grandma's house. I'm not certain what year that house met its' demise but I'm thinking that was forty years ago or more. I thinking if I were to go there today it would be like an archaeological site! I wonder what I could uncover there. I could search for the plants and use them as markers. The lilacs were by the front door. I would like to spend some time there with a metal detector, never know what you might find. My imagination is leaping forward. I wonder how many sites from my childhood would be explorable today? Surely many have been built upon or bulldozed over. We tend to think of archaeology in ancient terms but that's not what it is. It is simply the study of history and pre-history by digging stuff up. My backyard could be an archaeological dig site! The current residents probably wouldn't be too pleased by that. I know two places that I definitely wouldn't be digging though, the septic tanks. I know exactly where they are and would avoid them, others wouldn't be so fortunate. You never hear about that when they uncover other archaeological sites. 

 Well, it is a strange thing to think about. Your childhood haunts could reveal secrets from the past. They wouldn't be a secret to you but to the one uncovering it. There are mysteries to be solved. Back up in northwest woods, about a mile so in, you could find the bones of a rather large tuns fish. You may wonder how it got there, so far from the shore. My father took that skeleton there after having cleaned the flesh off it. Wouldn't want that stinking carcass close to the house, and to dig a hole big enough to bury it would be too much work. Under that pine tree you could find the skeleton of a small dog. His name was Laddie, he was fifteen years old when he died and that was his favorite spot to lie. I buried him there in 1973. What items may be shifted from the dirt? Old toys, tools and discarded objects. No telling what could be found. 

 Wouldn't it be neat if you go back in time. Go back to your childhood and explore. How many items have you forgotten about? You know there are things you had just lying around that would be interesting things to have today. They would be interesting not so much for their monetary value, but for the memory. I have collected a few things like that over the years. Some objects were mine, some belonged to others, but all have a memory associated with them. Like an archaeologist studying the smallest fragment looking for an answer, I hold onto those things. I am trying to leave a record of what these things are. I do want future generations to know. Consider this. A hundred years from now someone finds the key fob for your car. You know that little thing that unlocks the doors, will they know what it is? Maybe, but I had a lava lamp and today they are " nostalgia " so I wouldn't be so certain. I had a " pet rock " and a " rat fink " doll. Remember those? Artifacts. Someone may uncover them all in an archaeological dig one day, digging where my bedroom once sat. Discovering the artifacts of my past. What could they find in yours? Would it be commonplace, or a " shocking " discovery? All depends upon what we leave behind.