On Sunday we went treasure hunting through the miners' old trash dumps on the hillsides above our house. We brought garden tools for digging through the dirt to make our discoveries. We felt like children, squatting in the dirt and the sunlight as if we were in a sandbox, finding possibility in century old garbage, and exclaiming over beauty in the discarded glass bottles, ceramic shards, and rusty tools. It was fun! It felt very free and thrilling like when I used to pretend my bed was a boat and the floor was the ocean and my dolls were my shipmates.

Yesterday, Snark sorted our prizes and rinsed them off.

Veggie Dog also unburied an unexpected treat. The other day Snark found a goat horn on a hike and gave it to her. Apparently, she buried it in the yard by a tree instead of indulging immediately. Yesterday evening, she dug up her own riches. We've never known her to bury anything before, so this made us laugh . . . especially how possessive she was over it.