Lost and Found

It is part of Nelson family lore how my daughter and friends spent time in my newly purchased studio. They travelled from Munich, via Toulouse, to pick up my newly-purchased dish set, the Villeroy and Boch Acapulco pattern, visible in other photos on this blog.

One dish was lost. It never bothered me that a dish was lost EXCEPT I never understood how anything could be lost in a one-room studio with absolutely nothing in it, not even a stove or frigo at the time.

Now that the studio is furnished, I find it easier to misplace things, even with my minimalist lifestyle.

The latest was my good Swiss watch, a gift from Florian. It had spent time in the States with my daughter, who took all my good Swiss watches, when I gave up wearing a watch for several years. It had more to do with so many demands on my time, my IEC job, writing for CUT, teaching at Webster, and trying to do my own fiction. The watch on my wrist served more to mock me than remind me of how time was flying much too fast even though savings were mounting for early retirement.

Once I devoted myself solely to writing and not being a 9 to 5 wage slave, I asked for one watch back and I have worn it regularly for the past three years. Two weeks ago, I couldn’t find it. I searched in the obvious places. I searched in the unobvious ones. Finally I decided to do the thing that guarantees the lost will be found—I replaced. Obviously the 5 euro marché watch was too inexpensive to qualify and the watch stayed hidden.

Today, my friend Barbara and I shared a roast chicken lunch, the bird bought from the stand down the street. I explained how frustrated I was.

‘Did you look…’ she named places that it might be. To each I replied yes, and she rechecked.

‘Did you look in your silverware basket?’

I nodded.

She rummaged around and pulled it out.

‘The gold part caught my eye among the silver,’ she said to make me feel a little less dumb.

So now I have a beautiful, classy watch, and a campy wooden one. I will keep the second. It won’t take up too much room. And to RM, no, this doesn't mean I am falling off the minimalist wagon.