Old sunglasses and legs

July 20, 2006

By Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights@earthlink.net

Yesterday morning I misplaced my old sunglasses.

Granted, they don't look like much. They have plastic lenses, have been sat on more than once, and repaired with epoxy (which didn't work) and super glue (which did). They have a couple of scratches on the left lens. Ten years ago at a local gas station having an end-of-season sale, they cost me a buck, plus tax.

The catch is, I like them. They fit perfectly, are my favorite lens color and unlike so many pairs of glasses, have never ‘loosened up.’ While I do have a couple of other equally cheap pairs gathering dust in the glove box and a file cabinet drawer, these are my “faves.”

As per my usual three-toed tree sloth modus operandi, I mulled over my morning activities, trying to puzzle out where I'd laid the errant headgear.

I'd cleaned and refilled the birdbaths as the wrens and robins waited patiently. The day lilies had been dutifully deadheaded. The dog had been walked. I'd done a load of laundry. The house had been vacuumed. I'd changed the furnace filter and taken out the trash.

I even checked the top of my head -- three or four times.

No sunglasses.

It became humorous. Thinking that perhaps I'd done something silly and put them where I should have put something else, I checked the fridge, the kitchen counter, the bathroom vanity, etc.

Still no sunglasses.

Ever the faithful, I prayed, thinking how God must be smiling at my prayer to find an old, scratched, repaired, cheap pair of sunglasses. I even considered that, this being the height of summer and the days being, for the most part, not only long, but also sunny, He might have misplaced His sunglasses and needed to borrow mine!

No sunglasses, although it did elicit a chuckle!

I dug out and dusted off another pair. Though far inferior, they did the job. With that pair in place, I hopefully toured the yard again, retracing my morning steps. With the sun’s angle slanting lower, perhaps it would glint off their scratchy plastic wraparound lenses.

No sunglasses.

The sun set; day was done. The dratted sunglasses were still missing.

This morning began like yesterday, with the usual early-morning outside enjoyments. After the birdbaths and deadheading, Dog and I prepared to take our walk.

Sunglasses!

There on the end of the kitchen counter, where I'd looked many times for them yesterday, were the missing ‘shades!’ There they sat on a paper plate, plain as day. Had they been there the entire time, surely I'd have seen them.

How did they simply reappear this morning? I dunno, but I've checked: Sunglasses do not have legs!

Like property rights, an old pair of trusty sunglasses may not look like much. We take them for granted, assuming that they'll always be there for us, no matter how thoughtlessly we treat them. Then the day comes when they're not there anymore, and we learn just how precious they are. May we never misplace our property rights like I did my old sunglasses, lest we not find them again. They are, after all, worth so much more.

For much more property rights information, please visit http://www.PropertyRightsResearch.org