Digging for Bottles in the Rain

 

                                                          

Feeling restless a few afternoons ago, I decided to throw on my parka and boots to go to my normal dig site. When I bought the jacket, I wish I knew water resistant does not mean the same thing as waterproof. But hey, it was cheap and I like the camo pattern.

The past few times I was there I made sort of a ‘tree of rejects’ which was just piling up bottles at the base of a tree I was digging around. Broken shards, to bottles with only the bottom missing, 2 old milk bottles I wish were intact. You know, junk. Junk that I had the bright idea to maybe make a mosaic of sorts with. Let’s see if I get around to doing that..

So with old Gilbert Gottfried appearances on Stern playing in my head phones, I took maybe 2 milk crates of broken glass a yard or two to the now ‘mound of rejects’ near my brick pile.

It felt like a while before I actually found something, nothing crazy, more broken shards, and eventually found an interesting little Milk Glass skin cream(?) bottle. The first of those I found still has the cap on top, albeit rusted to shit. I found out through trying to get the lid off of old jars, that Evap-o-rust will remove heavy surface rust while leaving the original logo somewhat intact. Not exactly well enough to remove the lid without it crumbling to bits, but it’s cool to know what some of the jars I’ve dug up are. 

Whoever dumped these bottles here sure did like Nescafe instant coffee and Mustard

. (that cap was just rust, I let it soak a night in Evap-O-Rust and could make out what it said

Just wish the cap could come off) 

 

 Funny enough, while going through some old newspapers circa 1960 something I found ads for what I dug up. Funny how things work like that.

I put the intact  jars off to the side in case I needed more paint brush holders, and kept it. Moving closer to the tree I found another milk glass bottle the same as the 1st, just no cap. Beyond that I found mostly just shards, a few tea cups with the handles broken off, a shot glass I’m gonna clean up, and many rusted cans. 

It seems like the spot that the bottles were dumped before they rolled away has a large tree growing up through them. I wonder if anything cool is under it, I’ve found a few close to the base among it’s roots.. Eh can't get to them so it doesn't matter…

 

         

On the opposite side of the tree I happened to find something that my subconscious brain registered much more quickly than the conscious part did. “HOLY SHIT, is that a baby!?” i thought as my brain began to click.

 Relax, it wasn't. Just a creepy doll buried in the woods…joy…

 

"Keep Toby Safe"

"LET'S BE FRIENDS"

 

 

 By then the rain began to get heavier and  I decided my jacket had become a bit more soaked than I’d like so I left.

In other news I did find out what some of the original bottles I’ve dug up are. One, possibly two are from the early 1930s, made in the Illinois glass company.

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