As you all know I've been working in my yard planting fruit trees and getting ready to install a vegetable and herb garden. After Amy suggested looking for a free bookcase to use as the frame for a raised bed I went over to St. Vincent's and found exactly what we needed. A huge, solid wood, backless "entertainment center" (I don't know why I've never cared for that phrase). I bought it on the spot with faith that I would find a way to get it home. I had three days and a couple days later I got up early and went off to trade cars with my father -who's wagon has a roof rack. I raced over to St. Vincent's where they staunchly refused to tie the beast to the roof of the car. Hmph. I have to say, we almost had them convinced but when the saw the car and became even more stubbornly opposed to it I knew they were right. So I went home, called up Home Depot and asked if they had any rental trucks available. Nope. But they said if I called back and there was one available they could hold it for 20 minutes. Super.
Went about a few other things I needed to do and came home and tried again. Success! Raced over to Home Depot, got the truck, drove a few blocks to St. Vincent's blah blah blah. Got home, got the shelves unloaded with the help of my neighbor who drove up just behind us. And we left the shelves on the curb. It's a big heavy piece of furniture, almost immediately barricaded by parked cars and as the space was really just barely big enough to fit the piece I figured it'd be hard to maneuver out and no one would bother trying to snatch it. Plus, I'm just an optimist and most of my endeavors (and the risk taking they require) are protected by the bubble of my optimism I'm convinced. I figured I'd call my brother on the weekend to help me move to the yard and this morning I did just that. While waiting for him I turned over the soil of the large area I planned to place the shelves. I pulled a strip of plywood out of the ground, an old plastic tree pot, a lot of broken glass and plate shards, a spoon, a few marbles, chunks of cement. I raked the loose earth into an even surface. I was all ready to place the frame and sooo excited to keep moving on the project. I called my brother to suggest he bring work gloves with him to avoid splinters and then went up to the street to see if there were many cars in the way. My entertainment center was gone. I was in such disbelief that I looked into the neighbors driveway, up around the corner of the street, down the street. As if maybe it had wandered off and I could catch up with it. No such luck.
I drove over to St. Vincent's for the umpteenth time. They had another just like it that I had seen first for twice the price. I thought maybe if I told them my sad story they'd mark it down for me and I could do the whole thing over again. The guy offered it for $50 (almost the $40 I'd paid but not quite) and for some reason I thought it seemed better not to. Certainly no one had meant to steal it, it was on the curb as if discarded and Amy's "Not trash! Don't touch!" sign had been blown off by the wind. So I went inside and made a sign explaining that it was on it's way in and I could understand the mistake but would really appreciate if it was returned. I seriously do believe this is possible. I live at nearly the dead end of the street and think it's pretty likely that if anyone took it they live right around here somewhere. I'm giving it time and trying to enjoy the rest of my day, which is hard as I'd intended to spend it gardening.