Here Be Dragons

Day 35: When I was still in high school, my best friend and I used to enjoy nosing around in antique shops and pawn shops to see what kind of treasures they held. Occasionally, one or the other of us would find something we couldn't resist, either for ourselves or to give as a gift. One of the best centers for this type of shopping was Seattle's Pike Place Market, and since we shared an apartment on Capitol Hill, we also shopped for fresh produce and meats there. At least once a month, we would walk down the hill empty-handed, and then struggle back up with a burden of bags, both of us too thrifty to take the bus and at my insistence that we would benefit from the exercise.

On one particular occasion, this anitque ivory ring caught my eye (trade in ivory was not regarded unfavorably in those days). Upon closer examination, I saw that it bore a price tag which made me cringe, so I deftly put it back in the case and started calculating how long it would take me to pinch enough pennies together to purchase it. The philosophy was one which I live by even today: if it's still there when you've saved up the money, you were destined to have the item. If not, you have a decent start on savings for something else. As it turned out, the dragon was still nestled in his bed when I returned a month or six weeks later. I forked over a substantial wad of green and walked away with him on my hand. In less than a week, I had managed to break one of his whiskers off, so I decided then and there that I would only wear him on special occasions.