Amy Lu's View

I have lost my black fleece-lined leggings!

This is a personal tragedy on a grand scale: 1) I hope to do some cold weather running in the foreseeable future 2) I’m cheap and they were relatively expensive and 3) Due to chip and booze weight gain, I don’t have many other “pants”/leg coverings that fit (certainly not of the non-elastic waistband variety).

So I am in a perfect situation to empathize with Toad’s predicament in the story, “The Lost Button” (Frog and Toad blogging challenge #6). 

As the title probably suggests, Toad loses a button. His faithful friend Frog tries to help him find it, and presents him with several “lost” buttons, but none of them are Toad’s lost button. Eventually, Toad realizes his button was in his home all along (a variation of the “Wizard of Oz–Red Shoes Can Take You Home At Any Time” theme). He uses all the newly acquired “lost” buttons to bling out/bedazzle a jacket for Frog. 

We, the readers, learn: a) Make a positive out of a seemingly negative situation b) Explore all options before freaking out and c) Don’t underestimate the psychological and spiritual value of accessorizing.

So the mystery of the Toad’s lost button was solved, and deeper universal truths were uncovered. 

I’ve never really considered myself a mystery fan. Sure, Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie are fine and all, but solving a mystery is too much like playing a game or doing a puzzle. You have to pay attention to details.

But I don’t think I’m giving mysteries–or myself–enough credit. While I’m not typically into whodunnits, I am interested in psychological mysteries. Why do people (& okay, I usually mean Chad) do the mystifying things they do? (Why does Chad put food in the microwave without starting it?)

I’m also interested in the mysteries of the universe–where is the missing giant black hole?

And no, I’m not going to tackle political mysteries–this is probably not the best place to try and figure out why people believe in Q-Anon. 

“What is a mystery you can’t seem to solve?” is another Live Wire radio question. Psychology and astronomy aside, the most perplexing unsolved mysteries of my life have always been wardrobe-related. Yes, due to poor organization and rarely actually putting my clothes away, I am constantly losing my clothes. (“Losing one clothes” should be a problem that arises from much more exciting and sexy circumstances).

My most persistent and long-lasting wardrobe mystery is: What happened to my The Current hoodie?

More than 10 years ago, I had, and lost, a hoodie with a logo for The Current (89.3 public radio) designed by Adam Turman. 

I have looked, and looked, and looked, to no avail. Did I leave it somewhere? But where? Hoodies aren’t like jackets–they’re hard to casually take on and off and discard. I’m pretty sure one of my friends would have noticed and said something if I left if at their house….Did I accidentally donate it to Savers?…Did it slip through a wormhole (maybe this is an astronomical mystery afterall?) Did the Deep State steal it? (Oh yeah, I promised not to go there).

I think I have more or less come to terms with the disappearance of my hoodie and the reality that it’s gone and I’ll never know what happened to it. (Although on my deathbed it might be my “Rosebud”). 

I still have hopes for finding my black leggings. 

I have much less hope for being able to once again fit into my non-elastic waist band pants. 

*One of my favorite and most deeply meaningful spirtual songs by Iris Dement (altough I learned it through a David Byrne/Natalie Merchant cover). It can also apply to missing articles of clothing.