I’ve lost a thing. I looked where it should be, then I looked where it shouldn’t be, then I looked where it should be (again.) It is nowhere to be found.

This is not a rare occurrence. My house is undeniably cluttered. Why else would I be co-author of Drowning in Stuff? I’ve lived here almost thirty years and stuff has gathered around me as surely as iron filings are drawn to a magnet.

Usually I can shrug off this kind of thing. Unless the missing item is a passport & I’m flying the next day, I can live without whatever it is; it’ll resurface when I least expect it. This time was different, since I had just sold the thing on eBay. It was no longer mine, it needed posting… and it was missing. My surefire system apparently wasn’t.

After two days of going round in circles, I had run out of places to look. I had a growing sense of dread that I would soon be disappointing my eBay customer. What does anyone do these days when they’re in a fix? Go to Google!

Which is where I found out about St Anthony, patron saint of lost things, & tried out this plea:

Tony, Tony, look around.
Something’s lost and must be found!

The internet described this address as “informal,” though it struck me as downright irreverent. I gave it a go, but “Tony” hasn’t answered my plea. If I were him, I wouldn’t either.

My lost item remains lost.  Ironic really, since it’s a Japanese purse decorated with a sweet little maneki-neko (a waving cat talisman, thought to bring good luck to the owner.) Instead of bringing me luck, it seems she was waving goodbye…