As is often the case, I had some fairly big days at work this week meaning that I was able to leave work early on Friday. I had hoped that yesterday’s wind would still be around for a kitesurf session but unfortunately, this wasn’t to be.
I was thinking about this as I was walking the 500 odd meters back to my ute that I had carefully parked in a shady spot to prevent my kite gear from getting overheated in the back. As I walked I looked down and noticed a playing card lying in the gutter. The sight of this card prompted a memory of an article I had read many years ago whilst living in London. I used to love buying the broadsheet newspapers like ‘The Times’ or ‘The Guardian’. I would get lost reading them from front to back, including the sports pages as I commuted to and from work on those soulless tube rides. Please don’t judge me for enjoying newspapers from opposite sides of the political spectrum, I just enjoyed the quality of writing in them.
The article, from one of those newspapers, was about a man, probably in the US, who collected a whole pack of cards by finding them on the street. The article noted that years would go by between finds, but eventually, he managed to do it. This made an impression on me and then when I subsequently saw a card on the street once, I picked it up with the intention of collecting a whole pack. That would have been about 25 years ago. The card I saw today was the first one I have seen lost on the street since then. So I would have collected 2 out of the 52 required, or 54 if you count the jokers.
I didn’t pick the card up today, I don’t even know what card it was as it was face down so I could only see the pattern on the back which was red. I find myself regretting this as it turns out I still have the other card from 25 odd years ago.
Thinking about this is what prompted me to look for the card from 25 years ago, and yes, I have found it in one of my old pencil cases. It’s a 10 of Diamonds with a red pattern on the back.
I wonder if I would live long enough now to collect a whole pack. I haven’t noticed many people playing cards on the streets so I suspect it would take some time.
I think I will go back tomorrow to see if I can find the other card with its red pattern on the back. I wonder if I’ll find it? At least it won’t have been blown anywhere by the wind today, there was none.
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