Collecting Is Universal
by Ben Dover
published July 2017
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It might seem to some that an article of
this type cannot be written without being
super critical. I, however am only trying
to discuss, and not to criticize. It appears
to me that each and every human forms
a "Love affair" with something physical
other than the choice of mate. Notice
I am being totally genderless In my
remarks, because in this regard, women
and men seem to have identical desires
for what ever it is they have chosen as a
personal choice.
Men seem to enjoy collecting tools
fishing or hunting gear and those types
of things. While women on the other
hand are desirous of having every appliance
and hand held convenience for the
kitchen or for the sewing basket.
I know a fellow who collects suits
and shirts. His closet has at least eleven
suits of one color or another and each is
spaced two inches apart on the hanging
bar in the bedroom closet.
The wife of my closest friend collects
miniature owls. She claims to have three
hundred and fifty of these miniature
glass or plastic creations.
I have a friend in Sioux Falls South
Dakota who collects expensive guitars.
He owns a pawn shop, and finds he can
procure these things as the need and desire
demands. I asked him what might be
a good guess at the value of his collection.
His answer was not at all a surprise
when he stated the absolute value was
right in the neighborhood of one million
dollars. Many of these instruments
exceed the price of fifty thousand dollars
and more. My remark included the
words, "I hope you never have a fire".
So he retorted, "Then I might have to
collect fire extinguishers".
My own fetish for collecting is rather
difficult to explain, since I am a collector
of written articles as you are reading
now. I have hundreds of these articles, and
the number seems to grow daily. My
bookshelves are full and bulging. My
enjoyment is to find an article written
twenty or more years ago, and imagine
what it was that made this an interesting
topic with which to write at the time.
Poetic Ditties are included with these
articles and exemplify what might have
been causing this subject to be selected.
As I read through selected items, I can
identify the progressive nature along
with an education of form that appears
as the years progressed. My collection
of these articles therefore compares to a
picture album that is totally non selective
of offerings, but each one has a personality
by itself, and creates a memory.
Have a nice day ...
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