What Was Lost Is Found

When I was a child, my mother would frequent a local art gallery in Escondido.  Run by Marge Gray, Gray's Gallery had all kinds of treasure.  I don't remember ever going there, but I remember my mother's purchases.  There were framed charcoal drawings, gourds painted with the Madonna and child and even an oil painting or two.  My grandparents loved art, and passed that love to my mother, who passed it along to me.

One of my favorite pieces from Gray's Gallery was a quail.  Carved from avocado wood, it stood on spindly little legs, stuck into a second piece of wood.  Escondido was famous for its avocado groves.  We had bevies of quail that lived on our property.  What could be better than an avocado wood quail?  I LOVED it.  My mom gave it to me, before she died, back in the year 2000.

Up until about 4 years ago, if that is when we got the house recarpeted, the quail was intact.  But after moving everything for the new carpet, then moving it a second time, because the first batch was defective, the quail was no longer intact.  Cute as it was, it was missing its little plume.  I looked everywhere for it.  I have looked for it for YEARS.

 As cute as he is, he just wasn't complete.

Fast forward to today.  The quail has been at my house in Visalia.  It has ALWAYS been in my house in Visalia.  Today, I was at the walnut ranch, in Tulare.  Today the walnut house was pressure-washed, in preparation for painting on Monday.

I spent the day helping my son clear out the last of the items blocking access to the painters.  As I swept, I collected loose screws and nails, nuts, bolts, and random pieces of metal.  And then I spotted something that stopped me in my tracks.

I wish I could show it to you as I found it, as it was terribly tarnished.  I took it to my son, and asked if he knew what it was.  He did not, but said he thought it was copper.  He put it into a can of tomato sauce for about 30 minutes, and it came out looking like this.  He still did not know what it was, but I did.

How that little copper plume went missing in Visalia, and ended up in the dirt on the driveway at the walnut ranch, I will never know.  But it came home today, and my little quail is whole once again.  What was lost is found.  wow.  My own little miracle.

I just had to share it with you.  Isn't he cute?