Is It A Treasure?

  I am one that finds a lot of treasure in other people's trash.  People have a tendency to toss things in the trash instead of trying to repurpose or recycle them.  Don't get me wrong. I do not go digging through trash cans nor visit the dump to confiscate items to reuse. More oft than not, things are dumped on...errr...given to me or I merely find them.  The given items are usually some off the wall items that folks know I will find useful for the annual clue hunts while the found items are things that should never have been tossed in the first place...probably.

  Today while dusting, I came across one of those "found" items.  Years ago while driving the kids home from school, my oldest son shouted "Stop!".  This meant one of two things.  He either forgot something important at school or he spied something on the side of the road that was interesting.  (I trained him well!)  Usually, his finds were pieces of furniture that could be refurbished.  He was great about refinishing old pieces and making them usable once again.  This time, however, it was not a chair or table but a picture frame. I stopped the car, he snatched the frame out of the ditch and we were on our merry way down the road.  When he looked at the "frame" it was not empty.  Inside was a framed Valentine.  Hmmm?   We got home, Darling Daughter cleaned the picture and hung it near the front door.  She was always my interior designer even at a young age!

  Before today, I never paid much attention to the thing other than to dust it.  The Valentine has been hanging in the same place for some twenty years now.  It was there and nothing more. Today, however, I pulled the thing from the wall and inspected it.  On the back is the name Pizitz in Huntsville, Alabama.  So I did a bit of research and found that places with this name have been around for over a hundred years.   The Valentine inside sure looked like it could be that old but the framing looks newer.  I pondered if the gallery maybe did custom framing and found that they occasionally did.  Well, now the question...do I rip the paper dust cover off of the back of the frame and examine the Valentine? Or do I just leave well enough alone and rehang the framed piece near the front door?  Ponder, ponder.  Why would anyone toss this if it was Great-grandmother's Valentine? Perhaps it was lost during a move?  Or is it just some cheap decorative piece created to look like an antique? Who knows?  Maybe I will think about this a bit more before tearing into the frame.  It would be nice to know and maybe return the piece to its rightful owner if it indeed is an old Valentine.  Oh, the Little Bayou House holds so many treasures....even if some are just junk!