The harbingers of spring...

Here in my little suburb of Boston, spring can be marked by many things. The dirty paw prints on the freshly washed kitchen floor, Lily's bloodied knees from falling on the snow free pavement and the smell of thawed dog poop in the backyard are all signs that indeed, spring has begun.

The best sign of spring however is the huge piles of great stuff heaped on the curb of the homes of the affluent as they begin their spring cleaning. In some towns people throw away old tires or used paper towels. In my town people throw away dinette sets. I have found many things while out driving in my town, but rarely has my haul been as precise to my needs as it was yesterday.

You may recall my fascinating post about cleaning out David's office. You have probably already reread it several times, taking a few moments to read aloud the poignant bits to loved ones. I understand this need. You will now need to update your friends and family because yesterday, just twenty-four hours after uttering the words to David, I found exactly the item for which I longed.

There it sat on the curb, with a sign which read, "FREE". A leather couch. Not just a leather couch mind you, a leather couch without tears or mysterious stains. It was a leather couch in good condition. I pulled over, put all the seats down and had Lily help me hoist it into the minivan.

"A leather couch!" she trilled. She had never seen such a beautiful couch. The seats were warm from sitting in the sun and this only proved its magnificence.

We brought the couch home and dragged it into David's office. We put it into the very spot were we had stood, just hours before and had said, "A leather couch would be great here!"

The junk gods made it so. I know this and will make an offering to them at the alter of Goodwill. For now, I will show you our treasure so that you too might come to believe in the salvation of junk.