I may be a bad luck charm. Wait, is there such a thing as a “bad luck charm”? Let’s pretend there is.
I drove down to San Diego last weekend to go dumpster diving with my friend, Jennifer. We had lunch before our adventure because we weren’t sure if any restaurant would allow us into their establishment with our newly-contracted leprosy and rabid dog bites from strays afterwards.
Over lunch, Jennifer listed all the amazing things she’s found over the years. A barbecue grill, a bicycle, shelves for her office, furniture- I mean really, the list was long and super impressive. She added that she hadn’t even been looking for any of it. She found most of the treasures while walking her dog around her former neighborhood. It sounded so easy.
I got so worked up over the whole thing, I started making wild hand gestures during lunch. And noises, lots of noises. I’m going to make a bet that the next time Jennifer wants to hang out with me is going to be…never.
The whole “out for a casual walk with the dog” thing seemed like a great idea, so we picked up Jennifer’s dog, Grommet. It was almost believable, except for the trashing-picking claw device and rubber gloves we had handy.
We looked through eight different dumpster. And guess what we found!?!
Nothing.
Ok, I take that back. We did find a sad little plant and an empty bottle of face cream.
I think my dumpster-diving partner felt sorry for me because she sent me home with a batch of homemade macarons. I called Cal on the drive home because she loves these little treats.
Me: Cal, I’m bringing home a little something from San Diego. You’re gonna love it.
Cal: Is it from a dumpster?
Me: Uh…no.
Cal: Okay, then daddy says you can bring it into the house.
Clearly, we’re giving Cal a normal childhood.
That evening, I got an email from Jennifer. She wanted to show me a stash of plates and other fine wares she found after I left. See- I AM a bad luck charm.
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A BIG CONGRATS to Wendy Seely Shulz. You’re the winner of the signed books giveaway! Please drop me a line at flourishinprogress at gmail dot com with your contact information.
