How long does it take to collect a complete alphabet of Smartie lids?
Smartie lids regularly rock up on our beaches. They are one of my favourite non-wildlife finds and I have become strangely proud of my collection of lids. I even have a couple with capital letters on - the old ones.
The downside is that I can't talk about it. My friends think it is sad. And pointless. A maybe a little weird. None of this is untrue I suppose. But the delight of finding a Smartie lid on the beach is also true. In a mess of rubbish, they are a perfectly round, brightly coloured bit of unusual joy.
I've been picking them up for years and now have an enormous collection of seventeen. Ok, so it's not a vast number but look at this!
Look!!I have A through to E! How fantastic! And I hadn't even realised!
Now it's not that I'm not grateful. I love my lids. But this has changed me. Realising that I have A to E in a row has made me think that more is possible - I've already got G and H in the bag so maybe I could get the whole first half of the alphabet. Or perhaps the Holy Grail - I could all the way to Z...
Before this revelation I would wander along the beach wondering what I might see. A few times a year, I was delighted to see a Smartie lid (I've done the maths - it has worked out at 4.3 times a year. But what a great 4.3 times they were!). But now those days are gone. Now I am on a mission.
Now I am actively looking for Smartie lids. Searching the seaweed for that elusive F and I, and all the others on my (long) missing list. And I am disappointed when I don't find one.
And here's the awful truth - I haven't found a Smartie lid since. Not a one. Not an F, not an I. Nothing. Every Smartie lid I see turns out to be just an ordinary plastic bottle top...
Will things ever be the same again? Will I ever get to Z? Only Smarties have the answer.
Happy hunting!
For more on Smarties - and yes, you can actually date your Smartie lids! Have a look at this page
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