Prized Possessions

[essentialsaltes]

Show us some of your favorite things. Whether it's a marble given to you by your great-grandfather, or that BMW you always wanted.

Of my many prized possessions, this is the newest. Acquired at auction, framed, and hung for the first time today. The spouse and I have always wanted a map with California depicted as an island (as it was for many years -- the first navigators didn't go up the Bay of California between Baja and the rest of Mexico far enough to find its end, and so they assumed that the sliver of land was an island).

Incidentally, the name "California" derives from a work of fiction, in which it depicted an island ruled by black amazons.

Anyway, now we have one, printed in 1695!

At the risk of fomenting idolatry... show us your goodies!

 

[Left]

I love my Nintendo Switch and games!

 

[Non sequitur]

I don't have anything nearly as cool...

Probably an Arabian Proverb my dad wrote down on a piece of paper (which he cut out and "laminated"), a long long long time ago, on (I think) the first typewriter he owned.

A fool may be known by six things:
Anger without cause
Speech without profit
Change without progress
Inquiry without object
Putting trust in a stranger
Mistaking foes for friends

 

[~Anastasia~]

If she can be considered a possession ...

My little shadow. She follows me everywhere, loves to cuddle multiple times daily, and delights in running through tricks and commands like a dog.

 

[Left]

If she can be considered a possession ...

View attachment 206324

Beautiful basket cat.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

If she can be considered a possession ...

View attachment 206324

My little shadow. She follows me everywhere, loves to cuddle multiple times daily, and delights in running through tricks and commands like a dog.

Siamese lynx? Beautiful cats.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

My favorite thing is bow hunting from a tree, so I guess my most prized possession is my tree stand and rope step ladders . I have hunted from this 'homemade' stand for 30 years. I wouldn't be without it (you can't buy something this good).

 

[~Anastasia~]

Siamese lynx? Beautiful cats.

Just a feral rescue. But a good bit of Siamese background.

When she was tiny, she looked like a little white football with bulldog legs. She was actually fairly ugly until she grew up, but she has become beautiful.

Thank you.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Just a feral rescue. But a good bit of Siamese background.

When she was tiny, she looked like a little white football with bulldog legs. She was actually fairly ugly until she grew up, but she has become beautiful.

Thank you.

This was Shang-Ti, my ex-wife's Siamese lynx. Picture was taken on film in 1973 so picture is a bit faded. We were living in the country and this was taken just after Shang came in and barfed up a whole gopher onto the bed.

He was a gorgeous cat, with perfect eyes; not usually found in this breed.

 

[~Anastasia~]

This was Shang-Ti, my ex-wife's Siamese lynx. Picture was taken on film in 1973 so picture is a bit faded. We were living in the country and this was taken just after Shang came in and barfed up a whole gopher onto the bed.

He was a gorgeous cat, with perfect eyes; not usually found in this breed.

View attachment 206420

Beautiful!

 

[Dave-W]

I don't have pics of them.

A 1886 "O" Morgan silver dollar.

A mid 1970s Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (Tobacco Sunburst) that my wife collaborated with a dozen different relatives and gave me for Christmas.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I don't have pics of them.

A 1886 "O" Morgan silver dollar.

A mid 1970s Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (Tobacco Sunburst) that my wife collaborated with a dozen different relatives and gave me for Christmas.

Awwwww ...... you remind me.

I do treasure things from loved ones. I used to have a vintage Gibson CW acoustic that my Grandmother gave me when I started learning to strum. She and my Grandfather used to play and sing together. My younger cousin wanted to play, and they insisted I let him borrow it. He left it in the car in 100+ heat Louisiana humidity in the sun for who knows how long ... but long enough to ruin it.

My heart still breaks a little when I think of it.


But then again, over the years, I've moved many times, had to let things go. Perhaps it would have proven too hard to keep.

Among my most treasured possessions of that sort now are two crosses. One my Nouna gave me when I was baptized.

The other hers that they gave me after she died.

 

[Dave-W]

I do treasure things from loved ones. I used to have a vintage Gibson CW acoustic that my Grandmother gave me when I started learning to strum.

Nice!

He left it in the car in 100+ heat Louisiana humidity in the sun for who knows how long ... but long enough to ruin it.

I always tell students to get a cheapo guitar to learn on. That is one of the reasons why.

Among my most treasured possessions of that sort now are two crosses. One my Nouna gave me when I was baptized.

The other hers that they gave me after she died.

I understand. Those are precious treasures.

My silver dollar was dated the year my great grandmother was born. She was from Iowa and the Oklahoma City "O" mint was the closest to there.

 

[~Anastasia~]

My favorite thing is bow hunting from a tree, so I guess my most prized possession is my tree stand and rope step ladders . I have hunted from this 'homemade' stand for 30 years. I wouldn't be without it (you can't buy something this good).

View attachment 206358

My husband has a kayak he has modified, added to, and so on for fishing. You can't buy one like that either.

I know it's one of his prized possessions. At times he has spent enough care and attention on it I was almost jealous (and that's a LOT ... I'm pretty self-sufficient attention-wise, lol).

 

[OldWiseGuy]

In the years before her death my sister took to sending me various musical instruments, among them a Yamaha FG700S, an inexpensive beginners guitar (she bought it on the internet, knowing nothing about instruments). I've have been a 'strummer' since I was a teenager and my sister was always my biggest fan.

I thought little about the guitar as I already had a pretty good one so I left it in the box. Until one day out of curiosity I tuned it up and tried it out. As I anticipated it had a disturbingly long cheap sounding resonance, so I set it aside again. Later I picked it up again and noticed what great 'action' it had; low, fast, clean, comfortable with no 'buzz' at all. I was very impressed as my old FG200 was a bit hard on the fingers, especially on slides. Hammer-on's and pulloff's weren't clean either.

Now if I could only tame that disturbing resonance I would have a great guitar.

So I tried an old trick that we used when we wanted to play late at night and not disturb others. I stuffed a t-shirt into the hole, and I couldn't believe the difference. It now sounded like a guitar many times the cost. I was overwhelmed. My sister, who knew nothing about guitars had given me the one that I had hoped someday to have. Perfect resonance, tone, and playability as mentioned above. (It's a bit heavy but I play sitting down anyway.)

It will be a treasured possession for both reasons. Also, because of these qualities I now play more than I have in recent years and enjoy it as much as ever.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

My husband has a kayak he has modified, added to, and so on for fishing. You can't buy one like that either.

I know it's one of his prized possessions. At times he has spent enough care and attention on it I was almost jealous (and that's a LOT ... I'm pretty self-sufficient attention-wise, lol).

Us guys are like that (we do cherish you too though).

 

[~Anastasia~]

Us guys are like that (we do cherish you too though).

LOL I know he does. I teased him that he needed to give it a name though, so I'd at least know "the other woman's" name.

He never did name it. But now that he's pretty satisfied with all he's done to it, he doesn't devote himself to tweaking it and crafting things for it.

Then again, I'm pretty proud of him that he's talented to do things like that.

 

[Moral Orel]

Of my many prized possessions, this is the newest. Acquired at auction, framed, and hung for the first time today. The spouse and I have always wanted a map with California depicted as an island (as it was for many years -- the first navigators didn't go up the Bay of California between Baja and the rest of Mexico far enough to find its end, and so they assumed that the sliver of land was an island).

That's a cool map. I always wanted to get a map of the world, put it on my wall, and stick pins in all the places I've been. But first I have to go to the top two corners of the map so that it don't fall down. -- Mitch Hedberg