bella ciao
ever go on a scavenger hunt when you were a kid? try going on one when you are in the final chapters and see what you can find. this urge to dig thru the past began around Christmas. A muse, perhaps? Who knows? You'll be surprised what you find. Mine started with a self published book my son wrote in 2013. Searching, searching for clues. And some were, yeah, kind of frightening. After the holidays I got in my car and suddenly this CD pops out at me. I have an old car. Thought I'd thrown all of those away years ago. Okay, pop it back in and play it ... Oh yeah. Good tunes. We'll keep it. Memories ... in the words of Enigma, I'm asking why. I started digging. Craft took on a new level. got up one morning and looked at something left to dry overnight. It wasn't craft anymore. It began to climb its way to art. Okayyy ... Keep digging. Pulled out a box I didn't want to open. Pandora's I guess. Found the story my son wrote that I was looking for. Kept digging. Found David Hume's little essay on suicide. Dig more, the voice said. Found two very old Enigma CDs and one Exile. More memories. And found one letter from the job I had in Columbus where I'd done a simple thing that was part of my job called assisting the members and they had left me a wonderful thankyou letter. Also found a letter from my son saying, "I'm really okay, Mom."You're finished box, back up in the dark closet.
Then comes the big step. When I was in Houston, I needed to make a trip home for some research. A serious trip, not an in/out how's the family thing. I knew an editor at the local paper, when such things existed 25 years ago. He suggested I write an article, sort of a letter to the editor or opinion piece about my trip. I had copies of that article in Houston. But no idea where they went. I realized I needed that article. The librarian, very kind young lady, and I spent probably three hours each searching for this article a few weeks ago before the bad weather hit and I couldn't get to Wooster safely. Couldn't find it. I knew I had the year and months close. But something was wrong. Went in yesterday and told her I wanted to go thru March as well as Jan and Feb. I sat down at the desk, and we're talking microfiche (spelling?) here, for what I figured would be the rest of the day until the library closed. About an hour and 15 minutes in, she saw me sit back in the chair with a victory look on my face. "You found it?!" I did. The article was on the opinion page, took up the top half of the page. I mean pretty much the whole top half. I had been impressed at the time because I figured the editor would edit it to death and change things. But he didn't. He left it as I had written it and if he removed anything, it wasn't much. That article is now safely in my possession. With it comes more clues ... So, the chase goes on ...
That article opened a new avenue in my life. Almost immediately after that came out, I got a very strange email from some computer programmers who were planning a, at the time futuristic project. Could the Internet be used to measure, and I'll use the word here, political attitude of the country? Could it be used to run a compaign. Remember this was 25 years ago. Internet still in its toddler stage. I thought the email was a spoof and asked my husband and son to take a look at it. They both said go for it. afterall, I never minded messing in things if it could be interesting and fun. So, I did. I don't know if the programmers had permission, but no harm ever came. We messed in the presidential election of the time. It got me to D.C. and a meeting with a Congressman. The rest as we all can see is Internet history. But a few of those kind of projects together and you come up with a monster. One that keeps multiplying its strength today.
So, if you can see your way, try a scavenger hunt. You know where your secrets are hid. If you're ready, dig. You'll be surprised what you come up with. Happy Sunday.
https://youtu.be/A8Re8jzTpOM
