Poetry and Buried Treasure

Today, after teaching poetry to kids at Alexander Valley School, I trolled the Lytton Station Salvation Army refuse bins, I uncovering odd bits of treasure, I found an old 1985 audio tape, The Scotsman, signed by Alex Beaton. Not that I needed the tape. Who plays audio tapes anymore? I have the digital downloads of the album, but still I bought it for the music jacket.

It must date back to the days when the Caledonian Club Highland Games were held in in Santa Rosa, I said to no one in particular, feeling nostalgic for the past. Before his career took off, Alex hand-made those audio tapes, and slept in the back of his truck during the games to save money. A thrifty one, our Alex.

We saw Alex perform at the Las Vegas Games in 2011 before the freak accident that left him all but paralyzed. We didn't realize that would be the last time we'd see him sing. First the cancer, then this. Rotten luck. After 22 years, the SFCC Games left Santa Rosa for Pleasanton in 1994. I saw Alex perform many of the songs on that tape during the early 1980s. So I was holding a bit of the past in my hands.

The Lytton Station Salvation Army is the motherlode of all thrift stores. Those bins under the awnings really are the last call bins before the junk heads out to the dumps. One man's junk os another man's treasure. It's not for the faint of heart. We were a determined bunch, intent on a thorough search and rescue in the wake of other people's detritus. Trinkets of the dead. You never know what you'll find. The past, certainly.

As I rummaged, I realized I was being stalked by a bright, mousy-eyed lassie of about seven years of age. We talked over melted records (it was a hot day), old paintings, and broken toys. Then we discovered I had taught her poetry in a Kindergarten class at Alexander Valley School last year! Which for her, was the distant past. Clearly I was her prize find of the day. She was so excited to find her old poetry teacher scrounging with the best of them.

I didn't play the audio tape as I knew it would be a rough rendition of what it once was. But I hummed Skye Boat Song to Alex, as I drove down the road home to the Bay Area, thinking of the day's treasures—both old and new.

added and revised 7/24/2016


First draft (two fragments)

So chuffed, found an old audio tape, The Scotsman, signed by Alex Beaton at the Healdsburg Salvation Army. Must date back to when the Caledonian Club games were in Santa Rosa.

Today as I trolled the Salvation Army refuse (last call bins) uncovering odd treasure, I realized I was being stalked by a bright, mousy-eyed girl of about 6 or 7. We talked over melted records, and we discovered I taught her poetry in Kindergarten at Alexander Valley School!