Member-only story

Photos 162

FOUND JAR SERIES 001

J.R. Schaefers

6 min readMay 9, 2022

< back

A line from Steve Earle’s song, “Back to the Wall”, has always stuck with me:

“keep one eye on the ground / pick up whatever you find”

In 1996 I visited friends in San Jose. I arrived by train, stepped onto the platform and saw a guitar pick at my feet. I put it in my pocket.

That night we were at a live show and between songs, the guitarist asked the crowd if anyone had a guitar pick. I held mine up, it was passed to the front and the show continued.

This incident put cosmic significance on those moments when I spot an object. Will this come in handy later on, further down the road?

On the shelf behind my desk I keep a jar labeled FOUND, and I sort through it when it fills up. Some items make it into my toolbox; other artifacts I send to friends without explanation or occasion.

Here’s the first installment of my Found Jar Series.

Steve Earle’s song “Back to the Wall” is linked at the end of this post.

PS… Studying your writing on the label. You write like an artist… specifically like a cartoonist. If I’d never seen your drawings, I’d say this person knows how to draw. You should look at the writing of cartoonists and see if you can see comparisons. 😁 Genetic predispositions don’t lie.

I absolutely loved this article. I am a collector of found objects as well. The way you have photographed them is wonderful. Each appears to be a rare artifact or work of art that I might expect to find in a museum. Just brilliantly done.