BSL Mystery #8, or ....

The Message in a Bottle

Long ago and not so far away
there was a little boy who
loved adventure of all kinds
but especially the kind that involved
water, boats and fishing.


This is what he looked like in the olden days ....




And this is what he looks like now ....



One fine summer day
while fishing for blue gills off the dock at Elhart's cottage
this little boy decided to inject
klein beetje more excitement into his little life
and he wrote an ultra-secret note
and put it in an empty pop bottle
and tossed it in the lake.

KERPLOP !


Fast forward a year or so
and imagine yourself barely existing in the
Dreariest Of All Months, aka, January
where it's doing all kinds of this ....

(genuine disgusting photo taken by author
and yes that's 31 inches in 24 hours)



.... and out of no where
(Okay .... Ohio)
this shows up in the mailbox!


A letter from Ohio!
(We know no one in Ohio)

A letter from Ken Pearson
of Westchester Ohio
to be exact.
This considerably brightened
an otherwise dreary January day.

You see,
Ken had found the bottle
containing the little boy's letter
and then he took the time and effort
to write the little boy
and then we promptly did Two Very Bad Things:

1. We LOST the letter!!!
I know! Stupid stupid stupid.

Then

2. We NEVER wrote back to Ken to thank him for being so great!!!
I know! Lazy lazy lazy. And mean.
Our Protestant Work Ethic just went
right out the window.
(Loosely illustrated below. Don't ask!)


So Ken, if you ever see this blog,
we are so so sorry and we hope you
have a wonderful life
and that everyone else you know
is thoughtful and kind and
promptly answers your emails,
and considerately RSVPs on time,
and quickly passes all your messages along
and you never have to be on hold for
an hour listening to Kenny G or Barry Manilow.

Our Calvinist guilt is eating us alive.
(Sing first stanza of Amazing Grace here.
The one about what wretches we are)

P.S. This was not really a mystery for us,
but if Ken ever reads this posting,
it will solve a big mystery for him.

P.S.S. That first photo is by Kraftwerk on flickr CC A licensed
(hope I did that right)