I once lost a glove on a walk but I didn't realize I lost it. I walked out into the woods and then came back the same way and I said oh look there's a glove someone lost. And then I thought wow it looks really familiar. And I checked my pockets and it was my glove. I swear I could hide my own Easter eggs too. On another note I do keep all of the spare earrings who've lost their mates because I figure someday they might make an interesting tiny Christmas tree or other jewelry they could be turned into. And I have a bag full of tie-dyed single socks. I just keep thinking I could make something with them. That's been a problem my whole life is the "we might be able to make something with that" idea. I've had to really curtail that impulse over the years. But I cannot throw out tie-dyed socks. They're too beautiful. So are the earrings actually. I'm really glad you found your mitten.
I lost an earbud the other day, minutes after I set it down. I looked for it for hours, convinced one of my cats had stolen it and stashed it somewhere weird. I eventually found it in the fridge, tucked away with some cheese I had snacked on earlier.
I lost two gold necklaces and a pair of gold earrings with great sentimental (and momentary) value. They were missing for years. Then I gave my sister-in-law one of my late mother’s bracelets. I put it in a fancy jewelry box and left it at my sister-in-law’s home at the end of a visit.
My brother took the bracelet to a jeweler for cleaning and found my necklaces and earrings under that velvet-covered card that secures the bracelet in one of those fancy boxes.
I lose socks, and earrings, and I always keep the abandoned mate. It would feel cruel not to.
Am I remembering correctly that you're a knitter? If so, you can wash and block the mitten the way you would a hand-knit. Use Eucalan or Soak, and pin it to a towel to dry.
Re: mitten washing advice… if you don’t have special wool-washing soap on hand, a few drops of mild liquid dish soap in a basin (or sink or cooking pot) full of cool water should be fine. Avoid hot water and avoid too much squeezing and agitation of the mitten while it’s wet and soapy or you risk felting the wool.
Re: losing things… right now we are missing 2 squeaky-mouse cat toys which is really perplexing. I’ve searched the entire house — except under one of my kids’ beds. Maybe the squeaky-mice are there.
Years ago we were at the Oregon coast (not sure why I always say coast and not beach, but anyway) and I put my sunglasses on and put my regular glasses in my pocket. They of course fell out of my pocket and I was so upset. I didn't have a spare pair, and I was envisioning the headache of making appointments and getting new glasses. Mike was totally calm and said we should just retrace our steps. I thought that wa ridiculous we're on a giant stretch of sand, how can we possibly retrace our steps. But we did and he found my glasses!!
I have an Oregon Coast story. I lost my wedding ring there (rings, actually, both engagement and wedding band).
I got worried they would fall off in the sand so I put them in my zippered pocket. Same pocket my baby’s pacifier was in. Fast forward a few minutes later to when my baby got sand all over her face and I took her pacifier out of my pocket. My rings fell out too, although I didn’t realize it for hours, after we had left the beach and were back at the house.
We went back, looked all over, couldn’t find them. I thought they had probably been washed out to sea, but we went and bought a METAL DETECTOR anyway because we just couldn’t give up that easily. We didn’t find them that day. The next morning we went back and looked some more. There weren’t many distinct landmarks on the beach we were at (Nedonna Beach, if anyone has been). Right before we gave up I realized I had a picture from the previous day so I pulled it up and noticed it was by a log. We found the log, took our metal detector and started looking, and immediately found my engagement ring. Elated, we decided to try to find my wedding band and found it 30 seconds later.
My opinion on coastal nomenclature: The Oregon Coast because it’s not a “beach” in the classic, fun-in-the-sun sense. I think the edge of land by the ocean is called a “coast” in Maine, too. There are a lot of rocks, not much sand, and the water is too cold for swimming, which is true for Oregon. They’re beautiful, wild places but not ideal for sunbathing.
There’s also the Jersey Shore, which likewise has a special name even though it’s much beachier than its Oregon and Maine counterparts.
Oh my gosh, for some reason I’d had it settled in my mind from the start of this newsletter that mitten = oven mitt. So when you mentioned going on a walk with it, I thought—huh! that’s fun and random! 😂
I’ve thought about this a lot. So much so that one day, when I’m settled in another little place again, I shall set up a Lost Mitten Library. Like one of those little book libraries, but somewhere people can bring lost mittens, gloves, etc.
I would definitely look for that mitten. So cute!! I have so many onesies around my house. There was a jewelry store in San Francisco on Haight Street that sold earrings as ones or twos and that made me very happy.
I'm pretty good at not losing things, thankfully. I almost lost my earbuds or just one of the little silicone thingies that go in your ear multiple times, but I've always found them again after looking around me. The last time I almost lost them, my open backpack fell over, spilling everything on the floor while I had a doctor's appointment. The doctor noticed the earbuds case on the floor right before I left 😅
I don't understand people who litter. Don't you want your surroundings to be clear of trash? When there's no trashcan nearby, I hold on to my garbage until I find a trashcan or get home. I use a rollator, so I can't pick up litter when I'm out and about, unfortunately.
I hold onto the spare of lost earrings even though I often end up buying a replacement pair. That way, if one earring gets lost again I’ll still have the spare to complete the set.
A few days ago I found a favorite, lost barrette I had given up on finding. It was in a fanny pack I hadn't used in about 8 months. I never would have looked for it there, so what a nice surprise when I opened the bag and there it was!!
I used to wonder why I always seemed to lose favourite earrings and not earrings I cared about less and then realized it was because I wore them more. I have a bunch of very nice single earrings now. I bought a new pair I love and had to touch my ears several times on my walk to work to make sure they were still there. (They both made it!)
Your story reminds me of The Mystery of The Missing Red Mitten by Steven Kellogg, one of my favorite childhood books. Thanks for jogging that memory for me.
Wash your white woolen mitten in tepid water by hand, of course. Gentle soap, gentle scrubbing. If you can, lay it out to dry in the sun -- and don't forget where you put it. ha. I lost an earring about 45 years ago, somewhere in Portland. I still have the other one, still hoping to match it for a pair. I wear it with another single: a small gold hoop. I lost its pair too.
My eleven years was at the park, and she was missing her jacket.She saw an identical jacket hanging on the playground fence a day later. But she did not get it because she thought it must have belonged to someone else! Finally, a few days later, when it was still there, she got the courage to peek at label and saw that it was her jacket lol. Cue reunification!
I once lost a glove on a walk but I didn't realize I lost it. I walked out into the woods and then came back the same way and I said oh look there's a glove someone lost. And then I thought wow it looks really familiar. And I checked my pockets and it was my glove. I swear I could hide my own Easter eggs too. On another note I do keep all of the spare earrings who've lost their mates because I figure someday they might make an interesting tiny Christmas tree or other jewelry they could be turned into. And I have a bag full of tie-dyed single socks. I just keep thinking I could make something with them. That's been a problem my whole life is the "we might be able to make something with that" idea. I've had to really curtail that impulse over the years. But I cannot throw out tie-dyed socks. They're too beautiful. So are the earrings actually. I'm really glad you found your mitten.
You could wear the tye-dyed singles as a pair. (Mis-matched socks are a thing, although not a thing I can bring myself to wear.)
I lost an earbud the other day, minutes after I set it down. I looked for it for hours, convinced one of my cats had stolen it and stashed it somewhere weird. I eventually found it in the fridge, tucked away with some cheese I had snacked on earlier.
I lost two gold necklaces and a pair of gold earrings with great sentimental (and momentary) value. They were missing for years. Then I gave my sister-in-law one of my late mother’s bracelets. I put it in a fancy jewelry box and left it at my sister-in-law’s home at the end of a visit.
My brother took the bracelet to a jeweler for cleaning and found my necklaces and earrings under that velvet-covered card that secures the bracelet in one of those fancy boxes.
I lose socks, and earrings, and I always keep the abandoned mate. It would feel cruel not to.
Am I remembering correctly that you're a knitter? If so, you can wash and block the mitten the way you would a hand-knit. Use Eucalan or Soak, and pin it to a towel to dry.
Re: mitten washing advice… if you don’t have special wool-washing soap on hand, a few drops of mild liquid dish soap in a basin (or sink or cooking pot) full of cool water should be fine. Avoid hot water and avoid too much squeezing and agitation of the mitten while it’s wet and soapy or you risk felting the wool.
Re: losing things… right now we are missing 2 squeaky-mouse cat toys which is really perplexing. I’ve searched the entire house — except under one of my kids’ beds. Maybe the squeaky-mice are there.
Years ago we were at the Oregon coast (not sure why I always say coast and not beach, but anyway) and I put my sunglasses on and put my regular glasses in my pocket. They of course fell out of my pocket and I was so upset. I didn't have a spare pair, and I was envisioning the headache of making appointments and getting new glasses. Mike was totally calm and said we should just retrace our steps. I thought that wa ridiculous we're on a giant stretch of sand, how can we possibly retrace our steps. But we did and he found my glasses!!
So glad you found them!
I have an Oregon Coast story. I lost my wedding ring there (rings, actually, both engagement and wedding band).
I got worried they would fall off in the sand so I put them in my zippered pocket. Same pocket my baby’s pacifier was in. Fast forward a few minutes later to when my baby got sand all over her face and I took her pacifier out of my pocket. My rings fell out too, although I didn’t realize it for hours, after we had left the beach and were back at the house.
We went back, looked all over, couldn’t find them. I thought they had probably been washed out to sea, but we went and bought a METAL DETECTOR anyway because we just couldn’t give up that easily. We didn’t find them that day. The next morning we went back and looked some more. There weren’t many distinct landmarks on the beach we were at (Nedonna Beach, if anyone has been). Right before we gave up I realized I had a picture from the previous day so I pulled it up and noticed it was by a log. We found the log, took our metal detector and started looking, and immediately found my engagement ring. Elated, we decided to try to find my wedding band and found it 30 seconds later.
It was basically a miracle.
My opinion on coastal nomenclature: The Oregon Coast because it’s not a “beach” in the classic, fun-in-the-sun sense. I think the edge of land by the ocean is called a “coast” in Maine, too. There are a lot of rocks, not much sand, and the water is too cold for swimming, which is true for Oregon. They’re beautiful, wild places but not ideal for sunbathing.
There’s also the Jersey Shore, which likewise has a special name even though it’s much beachier than its Oregon and Maine counterparts.
Oh my gosh, for some reason I’d had it settled in my mind from the start of this newsletter that mitten = oven mitt. So when you mentioned going on a walk with it, I thought—huh! that’s fun and random! 😂
I’ve thought about this a lot. So much so that one day, when I’m settled in another little place again, I shall set up a Lost Mitten Library. Like one of those little book libraries, but somewhere people can bring lost mittens, gloves, etc.
I would definitely look for that mitten. So cute!! I have so many onesies around my house. There was a jewelry store in San Francisco on Haight Street that sold earrings as ones or twos and that made me very happy.
I'm definitely going to start calling my loose socks onesies now. Thank you for that!
I'm pretty good at not losing things, thankfully. I almost lost my earbuds or just one of the little silicone thingies that go in your ear multiple times, but I've always found them again after looking around me. The last time I almost lost them, my open backpack fell over, spilling everything on the floor while I had a doctor's appointment. The doctor noticed the earbuds case on the floor right before I left 😅
I don't understand people who litter. Don't you want your surroundings to be clear of trash? When there's no trashcan nearby, I hold on to my garbage until I find a trashcan or get home. I use a rollator, so I can't pick up litter when I'm out and about, unfortunately.
I hold onto the spare of lost earrings even though I often end up buying a replacement pair. That way, if one earring gets lost again I’ll still have the spare to complete the set.
Thirteen years ago I was with an acquaintance who casually tossed a beer can in the ocean. Just shocking. And I think about it very often.
A few days ago I found a favorite, lost barrette I had given up on finding. It was in a fanny pack I hadn't used in about 8 months. I never would have looked for it there, so what a nice surprise when I opened the bag and there it was!!
Grrrr...I've been insisting to my friends they're called "belt bags" and here I went and called it by that old, ugly name.
I used to wonder why I always seemed to lose favourite earrings and not earrings I cared about less and then realized it was because I wore them more. I have a bunch of very nice single earrings now. I bought a new pair I love and had to touch my ears several times on my walk to work to make sure they were still there. (They both made it!)
Your story reminds me of The Mystery of The Missing Red Mitten by Steven Kellogg, one of my favorite childhood books. Thanks for jogging that memory for me.
Wash your white woolen mitten in tepid water by hand, of course. Gentle soap, gentle scrubbing. If you can, lay it out to dry in the sun -- and don't forget where you put it. ha. I lost an earring about 45 years ago, somewhere in Portland. I still have the other one, still hoping to match it for a pair. I wear it with another single: a small gold hoop. I lost its pair too.
The missing mitten is so relatable
My eleven years was at the park, and she was missing her jacket.She saw an identical jacket hanging on the playground fence a day later. But she did not get it because she thought it must have belonged to someone else! Finally, a few days later, when it was still there, she got the courage to peek at label and saw that it was her jacket lol. Cue reunification!