A recent incident in the family reminded me of things I collected when I was a kid … like the time I took a koala to school for show and tell.
Then there were the many lizards and geckos I managed to keep as pets for a while, and the baby sugar glider I had as a pet that sadly glided away from me forever, when I took it on holidays to my Nanna’s house at Picnic Point.
I had ant and worm farms and a few pet snails, too.
Probably the least popular with my folks was an echidna that I’d play with when it frequented our yard.
And I do remember bringing a stink beetle into the house one day – for which I received a clip over the ear.
Then there were the material possessions I gathered – such as special marbles (of which I had hundreds) and plastic toy soldiers that I had hidden all over the house and farm.
Probably my most annoying collection, for my Mum, was coffee cups.
I used to do a paper run at Maroochydore, selling newspapers at the hotel and in the camping ground during the holidays.
On my way home, after I got paid, I would go to the holiday fair and shoot tin ducks in the gallery and win a coffee cup – every day.
We had blue, green and brown ones and Mum had a cupboard full.
Now, I mention this as last week our kids smelled something rotten in their car.
The smell came and went.
They looked in the back to see if there were any stray groceries or food that had been left accidentally but couldn’t find anything.
As the days went by, the smell got worse.
Finally at Easter, at the Pa and Ma Bendall surfing final, they were parked near the portable toilets.
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The aroma was obscene when they got back to the car but they hoped it was the dunnies.
Alas, the smell stayed with them all the way home after five hours in the hot sun.
So, they pulled the car apart again and, lo and behold, in the back door pocket right beside the booster seat of my granddaughter was a pipi (mollusc).
She collects them and had picked it up at the beach about 10 days prior (or so she said with a wry smile on her face).
I reckon she has me covered.
Coffee cups and stink beetles have nothing on this kid.
Ashley Robinson is a columnist with Sunshine Coast News and My Weekly Preview. His views are his own.
