What kids put in their pockets

 I’m interested in collections. The idea of collecting things seems to me to be a basic metaphor for how we humans relate to the world.

Consider what children put in their pockets. A child’s treasures are usually things picked up in the natural world. The child is making some kind of connection to the natural order. The child notices something and then collects a sample of it for further study.

My long-suffering mother often told of washing a pair of my jeans about the time I started school. Jammed in among the pebbles, acorns and mesquite beans was a horned toad.

She gave a little cry and freed the poor fellow. But she had the presence of mind to check the other pockets and so found the other horned toad. It too escaped unwashed.