Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v03n08)
Right in my Own Backyard - Collections - by Brandt Carter
posted: Apr. 21, 2006
Collections
I think most of my collections began in my backyard when I was young. I often had a stash of rocks, and only I knew why each one was a treasure. This later evolved into a shell collection, with each "keeper" having been carefully chosen on the beaches of Treasure Island next to St. Petersburg, Florida. The progression then shifted to shark teeth that I gathered on the beach in Venice, Florida.
Then there was leaf collecting, begun in pursuit of a Girl Scout badge. I recall that this led to three subsequent collections - all for classes in junior and senior high and then again in college. I always had a good head start on these collections thanks to the variety of trees in my parents' yard. Few others could find plum, cherry, transparent apple, and peach leaves as readily. I would also make a bee-line to a yard on 62nd Street that had over 50 varieties of nut trees. Yes, I was always an over-achiever on leaf collections.
My less favorite collections involved bugs and butterflies - something about dead insects was just plain repulsive. I hated chloroforming beautiful butterflies and stretching their wings on cardboard, but my dad would help me gather as many bugs and butterflies as he could. One day on a job site, he caught a glimpse of something flickering in his peripheral vision. In an instant he took off his hat, abruptly excused himself, and captured a prize butterfly. The other men could only watch and wonder, not knowing the obsession a bug collection could generate. When my collection was returned after grading, the teacher wrote on the last page, "Great effort, Dad!"
brandt@broadripplegazette.com