What I found by the side of the road

United States
April 10, 2009 7:55pm CST
I went out today to check the wild asparagus patches that grow along River Road. No asparagus yet, but I did gather plenty of coltsfoot flowers for my tobacco blend, and on the way home, there by the side of the road, looking like a pile of litter, was a whole box of assorted M&M's! I almost passed it by but thanks to my double-take I realized the extent of the treasure I had found, hahahahaha! They are a perfect sugar fix as I sit here typing away at my computer. Sure hope they're not poisoned! I think somebody lost part of their groceries on the way home. What a bummer for them when they got home and found that their M&M's were not there. That reminds me of another time traveling up the west coast into Oregon, there, sitting forlornly in an empty, foggy pull-off by the side of the road, was a darling little folding stool that someone had driven off and left behind. I wonder where they were - how many miles up the road they were before they realized what they had done. Maybe they never realized, and when they discovered it missing just said "I wonder what happened to that little footstool?" I could've told them. Anybody else ever found or lost anything by the side of the road?
4 people like this
11 responses
@Darkwing (21583)
11 Apr 09
Awww, some little kid might have bought them for their Mum for Easter! People are careless with their things at times though, aren't they? I don't think I've ever left or lost anything on the roadside, nor found anything but litter and empty drink cans that people have tossed out. I do leave my purse behind at my son's a lot though, although I know it's safe there. lol. Brightest Blessings, and enjoy your M&Ms.
• United States
11 Apr 09
I think somebody got them for bag lunches. Which would mean that some husband or kid is going to have to do without dessert in their lunch box this coming week. Who knows, it could be just the thing that family needed to push them into unexplored territory, hehehehe.
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@Darkwing (21583)
11 Apr 09
Lol... yup, you could be right. Perhaps they should be eating fruit or yoghourt for dessert! lol.
2 people like this
• United States
11 Apr 09
Hahahaha, I see you caught my drift... yeah, fruit or yogurt would definitely be a healthier choice! I can't even imagine dropping a bag of M&M's in my kids lunch box! I wouldn't tell them they couldn't eat them, but I certainly wouldn't be providing it for them! I make an applesauce/carrot cake that would make excellent cupcakes! It is loaded with carrots, applesauce made from the apples on our own trees, raisins, dates, walnuts from our own tree, and a blend of my favorite whole grain flours. I make icing out of cream cheese, sour cream and maple syrup... made from the sap of the trees that grow all around me. Hehehe... it's still got plenty of fat and sugar (I use evaporated cane juice or maple sugar) but it is packed with wholesome nutrients from nature's own bounty. Can't say that for this almond dipped in creamy chocolate and covered with a hard candy shell, hehehehe... I find myself wondering if its indeed a real almond! Gawd, I sound like a Martha Stewart wannabe... the health nut version. Maybe I should have my own tv show... I'll call it "Empowering Choices Even YOU Can Make" or something equally condescending.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
11 Apr 09
Shame you didn't find any asparagus..they take a long time to grow don't they? I bought some the other day and will have that as part of my dinner on Sunday. But wow that was some find with the whole box of M&M's ...have any left over? Want to send some to me...LOL. As for me finding anything...well not on the road but on the street I found a $20 bill one time..heehee...finders keepers
2 people like this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
11 Apr 09
I find your $20 discovery much sweeter than the m and m's and much more satisfying. :) I also picked up some "fresh" asparagus at the store and will have it Sunday. gotta plant some... I think it takes 2 years.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
12 Apr 09
Wow--you were sure lucky that wad of money was still there
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Apr 09
It takes a few years for an asparagus patch to get going. These patches by the side of the road have been growing for years and years. I have clipped all the tall grass growing around them down real short so I can more easily see the sprouts when they start coming up. I am certain to get a nice haul unless I have just made it easier for some other forager to come along and collect up my little treasures before I get a chance to! I thought I would be eating M&M's for days, but I gave a couple packets to my mother and except for one pack I have gobbled up the rest all in one night! I was shopping one day and for some reason I was carrying money in my hand, I think it was something like 100 bucks, more or less, but it was a good chunk of money. I have no idea why it was in my hand. Anyway, while looking for a nice canteloupe I laid it down! And then walked away without it!! Something like 10 minutes later I realized I was no longer holding that money in my grubby little fist! In a panic I retraced my steps and there it was, obediently waiting for me right there under the bright lights of the cantaloupe bin. It was like the solo performer spotlighted on the stage it was that obvious!
2 people like this
• Lubbock, Texas
11 Apr 09
I lost my mind sometime, somewhere. I haven't found it yet. With your luck at finding things, if you find a lost mind wandering around will you notify me please?
2 people like this
• United States
11 Apr 09
Sorry, finders keepers! On the other hand I really can't think of any use for yet another voice in my head so maybe I would send it scurrying back home to you. Although I would probably be more inclined to studiously ignore that phantom wandering without purpose up and down these mountain roads!
1 person likes this
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
11 Apr 09
Hey zigzag! How cool! What a great find! I hope you are enjoying those M&MS! I know I sure would be! Too bad for whoever lost them! And I don't know how they could? And finding a stool too! You sure have found some interesting treasures! Nope, never found anything that cool on the side of the road! Sure wish I had! But, never have found anything but gargage I'm sorry to say! Oh well! At least you can make use of you finds! Nice going!
2 people like this
• United States
11 Apr 09
Yeah, I am definitely enjoying my M&M's! A little too much actually, I am going to have to use some discipline and save some for tomorrow, hehehehe. I was wondering how they could have got there myself. A lot of people around here drive pick-ups, but I can't think that someone would put groceries in their truck and not close it up. Another possibility is that a driver of one of the trucks that delivers stuff to the little grocery stores around here could have set it on the back of his truck and forgot to put it away. It sure is a mystery to me how they got there! But no way am I gonna let paranoia ruin my fun!!!
1 person likes this
• Philippines
11 Apr 09
I haven't found something like that on the road. If ever I do, I still won't pick it up and eat it. Who knows it's poisoned. hehehe
2 people like this
• United States
11 Apr 09
Well, up here in the mountains where everybody knows each other it is not too likely that they would be poisoned, I've already eaten 3 or 4 packages and I'm still alive so far, and feeling pretty good besides!
1 person likes this
• Philippines
11 Apr 09
Hehehe. It's good to hear that. People in cities are a lot different LOL. Enjoy your M&M's... :-)
1 person likes this
@sandymay48 (2030)
• Canada
12 Apr 09
SO I am glad you are enjoying sitting on my stool and eating my M&Ms Could you imagine if someone on here was really the owner of one or the other and wrote that to you!..That would be too funny.. I like when people drop 20 dollar bills on the ground...Cant say I have found too many of them though but I did once. I found a whole wallet with a fair amount of money in it too. I returned it to the police station as I was afraid something terrible would happen if I kept it....No really, I am just honest and would want someone to return my lost purse, with money in tact. The owner was located and was so happy to get his wallet back that he gave me $100...I kept refusing but he insisted because of my honesty. He said he could have lost a lot more then that if I had been a thief or dishonest. I guess sometimes it pays to be honest.
• United States
12 Apr 09
Hahahahaha... that's very funny! I was laughing so hard I couldn't even light my cig! Although to test you I would ask you what town in Oregon you lost your stool in, and what mountain road in Virginia you lost your M&Ms on, and how many years spanned between... and if you answered those questions correctly I would be stupefied and would from that moment forward consider you a long lost friend and think it was about time we communicated in words rather than a mystery trail of mysterious clues... although it's really fun trying to figure out what you might be trying to tell me with these cryptic messages! "Ummm a footstool... what? Are you trying to say I need some rest? OK, now some M&Ms... hmmmm I get it! You're saying I am sweet as candy!!" My daughter dropped her purse once on her way to work, which had all of her christmas shopping money in it! When she got to work and discovered it missing she was pretty distressed, to put it mildly. She retraced her steps back to our apartment building where the security guard asked her if she had lost her purse. Someone had found it on the sidewalk and turned it in at the front desk of our apartment building for some reason... maybe she had dropped it right out in front, I'm not sure, but I'm glad they did that because it would have never occurred to us to call the police! And yeah, I would definitely not feel comfortable keeping money if I found it in a wallet with somebody's id and credit cards in it. It would feel much better to see or imagine their joy in recovering it!
• United States
13 Apr 09
No, I do not feel the slightest bit guilty. I am learning to thoroughly enjoy everything that comes my way without any compunction whatsoever. If you had REALLY wanted that stool it would have been in the RV with you when you drove off! And regarding the M&Ms in Virginia... if they were expecting them for prizes at some Easter Festival in Oregon they wouldn't have got them nohow, whether I ate them or not... unless you could have somehow made a 3000 mile drive in a day and a half!!
• Canada
12 Apr 09
Well lets see..hmmm..it was quite a long time ago when I lost the stool so I cant quite remember...You know, the memory is always the first thing to go. But as I recall, I was driving up the west coast of Oregon when I lost it...it was the cutest little folding stool..I sure do miss it As for the M&Ms...since you found them, I dont need to tell you on which road now do I?...lol..I bought them for easter and had travelled up River Rd. I was going to the park in Eugene..You know, where they are holding the easter events this year!..But someone will be out a prize cause YOU ate it!!! How was that? Do you feel guilty yet??..I know for certain that I lost that foot stool, on that road where you found it, thats where!!
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
11 Apr 09
I hope that you enjoy your find and yes, that it is not poisoned. that would sure put a bleak cloud over your happy dance. I found a dog alongside the road, other than that - nothing of any importance. When I was a toddler I used to throw my shoes out the window, and we traveled a LOT. Finally Mom would not put shoes on me in the car.
1 person likes this
• India
11 Apr 09
Hmmm... did I find anything by the side of the road? Just a puppy! LOL! You know the entire story of that little puppy, don't you? ;) I haven't found any chocolates yet, and even if I do, I wonder if I would dare to pick them up. We in India are terrified of strange packages after all those terrorist attacks. Nobody would dare pick up a strange package, even if it looked like an innocent package of chocolates. :) Cheers and happy Mylotting
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• India
13 Apr 09
I think you found part of someone's grocery shopping, as you said.;)
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• United States
13 Apr 09
I'm wondering about that now, because yesterday I went back up the road to check on the asparagus again, and about 1/2 mile from the big 'M&M spill' there was another pile with just a couple bags of M&Ms and this time there were 4 cans of Mountain Dew along with it!!! Maybe I should get on my bike and ride WAY up the road to see if they lost little piles of their groceries all the way home!
• United States
11 Apr 09
That's right, you did find little Gypsy by the side of the road didn't you! Hehehe. There isn't anything like terrorist attacks up here in the mountains where I live, but I have still retained some old 'watch out for this watch out for that' type conditioning, so I did have a moment of indecision. In the end I decided that I would rather take a chance on love rather than succumb to fear, hehehe, and so far so good, as I have consumed the entire stash and am still alive and kicking!
@leenie50 (3992)
• United States
11 Apr 09
Hi Zig, Isn't it sweet when you find nice little treasures in surprising places? I think we all contribute to those little dropped treasures for someone to come along and find. It's our unaware ways of shring with strangers. It adds a little intrigue to our everyday lives. I once lost my last $10.00 and was really distraught until I realized that maybe the person who found it needed it more than I did. And at some other time, I found a $10.00 bill as I got out of my car. I like to think that we are all sharingwhen we most need to. I look forward to my next discovery!! leenie
• United States
11 Apr 09
Yeah, I am reminded of a poem by my all time favorite poet, Robin Williamson. It goes like this: My friend from the court of louis he wears around his neck a little silver fish it moves and wriggles in all its joints next day I find one almost the same I wear it for a month and a day riding on a black horse in the kentucky woods the string breaks and the little fish falls in the long weeds some day someone will find it there a little girl I think I lost a big beautiful crockpot once. I didn't lose it by the side of the road exactly, but it did involve me getting on down the road. I figure I left it behind in the back of some cupboard. Everytime I think of that crockpot I have to hope some new tenant moved in and could hardly believe their good fortune when they found it there, hehehe. That's another of my favorite places to find stuff... in houses or apartments where tenants have recently vacated. I once found a beautiful (and valuable) ring on the top shelf of the bathroom medicine cabinet in an apartment I moved into. I wore it on my 'goddess finger' for a year or so, then one day I lost it... while I was hanging clothes out on the line I think. I don't believe anybody will find that ring for a long time since the guy who bought the house from me is a pale skinned computer 'nerd' who does not spend too much time out of doors. His son is not much different. At least I found another ring to take it's place... and it's amber besides!
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@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
18 Aug 09
I have lost numerous hats...my finding is less exciting.
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• United States
18 Aug 09
Boy, there is a belief that sounds to me like it could use changing! I LOVE finding things! It is one of my most absolute favorite things! How do you expect to find a house if you believe you are not a good 'finder'???
• United States
19 Aug 09
50 bucks is a great find! And yeah, letting things find you sounds like an excellent plan... and a very useful belief to cultivate!! Start by proving it to yourself, if you haven't already. Most of my dearest treasures found me.
@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
19 Aug 09
How did you turn less exciting into not a good "finder" I found a house, but the government said I couldn't have it, now someone else lives there already. 3 more to look at tomorrow now, I know I said 2 earlier but now it is three. All right, exciting things I have found. Used to find money all the time, just laying on the ground. Even a $50 dollar bill one day in the weeds by the schools foot ball field. What else. I don't think I stop when I see things on the side of the road. Maybe I should start. My house will find me. Things find me, I don't have to go looking, they find me.
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• United States
11 Apr 09
Hey, finders keepers, right? If you would have saw someone drop the candy and not given it back, that would be something completely different. But you didn't, you found them free and clear so good for you. Sometimes the universe rewards us for things we may have done good. And m&m's is a really good candy, so kudos to you. I alwyas find things when I'm out walking just by doing things ohers don't do, like paying attention. I have found jewlry, coupons, lotto tickets, and even money. Once, I was coming out of the store and a hundred dollar bill was rolling along on the ground being fueled by the wind. I wasn't sure what it was at first but I knew that it looked liked money. So I stepped on it with my foot and scooped it up in my hand. when I realized hey this is money I looked around, saw no one, and got into my car. I thought that maybe it could be fake (because it was small-faced) so I took it to a store and they knew it was the real deal. It's wonderful when you unexpectedly find something good.
• United States
11 Apr 09
Well, even if I had seen the vehicle it fell out of the only way I could have given it back was if I knew who drove that car, or if I could have got their attention with a bunch of yelling and waving of my arms, because certainly I could not run so fast after their car... huffing and puffing as I ran up to their window with an armload of M&Ms! A hundred dollar bill is a nice find!!!