TREASURE ROOM

One of my favorite comic book characters when I was a kid was Scrooge McDuck. As I recall he was the rich uncle of Donald Duck. I don’t remember if he was a good guy or bad, or any of the adventures they had. I do remember in each episode, Scrooge would spend time in his Treasure Room, loaded with gold coins, currency and jewels. Though a room full of these things is little different than a room full of rocks until they are cashed in or traded for useful items, McDuck just enjoyed being with his treasure.

I have a treasure room as well. Hard won, the result of hard work and it only comes at this time of year. It’s my fur room that gradually fills with the pelts of the coyotes, raccoons, ‘possums and muskrats I catch on my trap line.

One or two pelts hanging there don’t mean much, but by now, a month into the trapping season, the treasure mounts and I get a thrill from just being in the room.

As treasures go, it’s not worth much. Several hundred dollars? Maybe a thousand? I won’t know until the pelts are sold. But that’s a bittersweet sale. I’m trading my room full of treasure for a simple check with a dollar figure on it. I’ll put the money to use, but what I buy won’t be as fulfilling as the feeling I get when I walk into my fur room and see my treasure.