The Depository for Things

I love the idea of Boo Radley, leaving things in the tree. Such a great book "To Kill a Mockingbird". I appreciate it more now than I ever did in a classroom. Life does that to you, alters your perspective.

I think that's why I started putting things in the oak in the park. I wasn't expecting people to find them but I liked the idea of them maybe being found. Does that make sense? Everyone visits that tree. It's big, stately. It has seen so much and the fact that it's still standing gives you confidence that things can continue and remain the same; that there is stability somewhere in this world.

I was surprised when I went there to check on my favourite niche and it was empty. It was just one of many places that I've placed things so I checked the others. They were all full of my gifts - a Pokemon card (I liked to imagine it being found by a young child who needed it to complete the set); a bouncy ball (one of those that flies really high on tarmac and surprises you with its playful movement when it descends to Earth, eliciting laughter); some nuts in paper (these were for the squirrels really but any nut fan could benefit); a pretty brooch in the shape of a heart (a lucky trinket for the discoverer and subsequent wearer); a pack of Wrigley's Extra (fresh breath is always winning and, of course, a modern day nod to Boo).

So, what was missing from this particular niche? The notebook. Small, leather cover like a policeman's in a film. I'd bought it in a charity shop and had stored it at home for potential scribblings. It had been months since I'd bought it when I suddenly thought I'd bring it to the oak, The Depository for Things as I've christened it.

I'm glad someone's taken it. I hope it's being used now, not languishing somewhere. I like to think of it in the hand of a child with a wax crayon. Or for shopping lists for an old bachelor. Or a writer's thought-book.

Or for the musings of a whimsical loner.

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I came up with the idea of this tree when thinking about Boo Radley and then just sat and wrote. Sometimes I wonder if I am a whimsical loner at heart. I think I might just be. And I really want to find this tree.

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