Eureka!
Eureka is a great word. It’s fun to say. It’s traditionally attributed to the philosopher and mathematician Archimedes. He probably said “Eureka!” each time he solved a math problem. I say “Eureka!” when I don’t have to do math.
The word is translated as “I found it!”
And, I did. Well, actually, it is more like it just appeared. Or, re-appeared to be precise.
But, however we say it, my blue sock, the missing sock, came back to me this week. It was very subtle and didn’t make a grand re-entrance in my life. It merely showed back up on the bed when I was folding my laundry this week.
Somehow, I strangely remembered Reunited, the old Peaches & Herb tune.
Reunited and it feels so good... on my feet I mean. It was hard wearing one sock on and one sock off.
I felt confident the blue sock would come back, but I just didn’t know how or when.
I’m glad my lost sock came back again.
I know I am crazy, but I think about such things that we have lost now that may never come back.
Here are a few things I can think of:
• Regis and Kathie Lee in the morning. I loved seeing my friends “Reege” and Kathie Lee on weekday mornings during my high school and college years. Their show has had several reinventions over the years and is still on the air, but nothing quite compares to the original.
• Bob Barker on the television. Mid-mornings was appointment viewing at the homes of both my grandparents. The dapper gentleman with the stick microphone was the coolest fellow on daytime TV. I use to imitate Bob as my cousins would line up in front of the coffee table for contestants row. Who can forget “Plinko!” and the “Showcase Showdown” and the words “Come on down!”
• Lemon thin cookies. Whatever happened to them? They were staples of snacktime at Grandma Jones’ house when I was coming up. They were kept in the safe, which is where I wish they had kept them and not lost them to posterity.
• Sunday dinner at Grandma’s house. One of the anchors of my childhood was Sunday dinner at Grandma’s house. Granddaddy Deal was there and always made sweet tea with a pinch of baking soda in it to take off the bite. Both Grandmothers were the queens of their respective kitchens. What I wouldn’t give for one of Grandma Deal’s corn dodgers and one of Grandma Jones’ biscuits right now.
• Front porches. Most of the reason we are in the mess we are in, is because we stopped sitting on our porches. There is nothing quite like a cool breeze, a glass of sweet tea, a slat back rocker and those you love gathered round. Sometime between then and now, we all went to our collective homes, got in front of our television, computer, and cell phone screens and stopped talking to one another.
• Civility in our politics. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock or missing like a sock the last 40 years, you know we’ve lost that, too. I liked it better when we could discuss issues peaceably and could give and take and change our minds occasionally. It’s not like that these days. It’s all vinegar, acid, fire and brimstone and... worse.
• The cute petite brown haired girl. She left that night when I asked her out at the ball game. She hasn’t been back.
But, my sock came back, and that gives me hope these other things — or something similar and good and kind — will come back, too.
When it does, I’ll yell “Eureka!” with both socks on.
