Last this spring I heard through the “townie grapevine” that there was an old burn dump where the bulldozers were digging up the new leeching field. As soon as the machines stopped rumbling I wandered over to search through the rubble. There were a few other people poking through the dirt and rust, some had already gathered a cache of treasures. Eventually we started to circle in the same area and admire each others finds. As I showed two women the little porcelain pig I’d pried from under a stump, we began talking about how we love to dump pick and beach comb. Our conversation drifted into our favorite wildlife sightings on hikes around Provincetown. One women knew where a fox den was, the other had seen an otter in Clapp’s Pond, we leapt excitedly from one nature tale to the other and laughed at our mutual passion for long walks observing the beauty that surrounds us. We shared stories on how to see a Great Horned Owl and where other old bottle dumps were. It became one of those “Provincetown moments” – three strangers looking for treasures in old trash and finding new friends.

--Sally Brophy