Ever since I was a kid, I loved to collect things. Bottle caps, rocks, beer cans, were all fair game. As an adult, my collecting became more limited. We pick up a few seashells on trips to Florida, or polish rocks from Lake Michigan in a rock tumbler. Mostly small things like pins from ski hills or brightly colored feathers from hikes in the woods.
These items were often relegated to basement storage, although we had a few items on our old fireplace mantle and window ledge. Several years ago I read an article about cabinets of curiosities - display cases for things found in nature or interesting objects. That idea stuck with me. Recently, as I was creating a basement workshop, I decided to find a display case and create my own cabinet of curiosities. After searching for months on Facebook Marketplace, I finally opted for a retro cabinet from IKEA. I slowly dug out various found objects, ranging from small racecars and nature guides I had as a child to fossils we found on a family trip to Iowa, to a small antique microscope. I find small porcelain dishes and stands at Goodwill and rummage sales to place them on. Many years ago I found a huge 48-star American flag at a rummage sale. Not liking to see a flag balled up on a table, I bought it and stored it away. One wall of the basement is painted cinder block, so I hung the flag to hide the wall and add some color. The case is pretty full, but there is probably room for a few more finds.
On a related note, last year a Kickstarter ad for a new board game popped up on my Facebook feed. The game, Botany, takes place in Victorian times and involves traveling the world to collect botanical specimens. Our son Henry loves board games, and I could not resist a game involving collecting and plants. I had never supported a Kickstarter campaign before, so it was a little leap of faith that this was not a scam. The campaign was very successful, and 6 months later, the game arrived.
It is not as complex as some of the games Henry has, but he has been a good sport and played it with me several times. The artwork on the cards are based on vintage botanical prints. It is easy to get distracted by the pictures on the various cards while playing. I find that era of exploration fascinating, and envision myself on the search for a rare plant. Just last week we identified a new plant on our ridge - Prairie Ragwort - so we are continuing to explore our little corner of the world.
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