Telephone Pole Wisdom

My kids love reading flyers on telephone poles. Recently there were flyers plastered all over our neighborhood about Rufus, a cat that had gone missing. We actually met and talked to his owner one evening as she was combing the streets looking for the little beast who had managed to escape from his home. A few days later we saw more flyers expressing gratitude because Rufus had been found! We breathed a collective sigh of relief (the girls because the frisky feline had been caught...and Alex and I because we wouldn't have to hear about Rufus 24/7 any longer!). The relief was short lived though, within 10 days there was yet a third set of flyers saying Rufus (apparently the Houdini of cats) had disappeared again. Thankfully, even the girls were growing tired of the saga and lost interest in Rufus and his plight. We haven't heard anything more about the little guy...so either he is still lost or his owners have maxed out their xerox budget for the year.

One evening as we were walking around reading the Rufus flyers one of the kids commented about all of the staples on the telephone pole. As I walked by I saw them...literally thousands of staples all over the pole. I found myself wondering about all of the signs that must have decorated the pole and all of the people who put them there. Signs no doubt for missing animals, yard sales, no parking, and Penelope's baby shower. Signposts that lead us somewhere, give us direction, seek to find what is lost and on and on. Little pieces of life stuck to a wooden tower.

So the signs get ripped down to make room for new ones, but the staples remain. A little scrap of metal left to testify that Rufus was lost, found and lost again. That 65 Elm street had a "monster" yard sale with "baby items, furniture and knick knacks". That the police department says you cannot park here from midnight until noon for the community day parade. Little bits of metal that represent people's lives - left on that pole for how long? Who knows?

I wonder what sort of marks are left on my life by events and people? Of course some are quite obvious but others not so much. What sorts of things shape us and give texture to our person? Marks that transform us from a smooth wooden tower into a monument to humanity. Little bits of people and experiences that hang on after the people are gone and the experiences are over.

What are those things in your life?