Thank you, Bugs Bunny

My cousin Matthew and I were just ruminating the phenomenon of finding exactly what you need when you need it. We got on this topic after noting how our friend Dana just happens to have the oddest bits of information stored in her mind for just that moment when you will ask. (Most recently, I mentioned aloud that I need to find some coyote skulls for a certain project, and Dana immediately recalled a taxidermy place in Sulphur Creek.) Likewise, I have always marveled at the memory of finding a shovel just feet away from a burning house that I needed to break a window to so I could rescue a dog inside. (Turns out there was no dog inside, but the shovel was there when I thought I needed it, nonetheless.) The best example, however, comes from Mock's Variety store, a tiny little dump within the small town of Parker City, Indiana. Mock's had nothing except exactly what you needed at the time -- for me it was an eye dropper one day to feed an orphaned baby bird. Another day it was a bag of Funyuns when I was craving Funyuns. My mom had the same experience, and was the first to point out this unique quality of Mock's. It may not have milk or bread, but by God, if you needed a self-adhesive bookplate with penguins on it, Mock's would certainly have it.

We have decided that Bugs Bunny must have worked in the backroom at Mock's Variety Store. After all, Bugs was famous for, among other things, being able to produce a pair of scissors or a butterfly net -- whatever was required -- from his magical, unseen pocket. Bugs Bunny could indeed be behind all such phenomena, and so, as Matthew ended our conversation, "Thank you, Bugs Bunny."