Lost and Found: Joe's Scotland Scarf

Afternoon Everyone!

This will be the first post of many on this blog page dedicated to the adventures of Joe Grant and Nicole Heaney on the other side of the world in South Korea. We are expecting to leave this upcoming Friday or Saturday after some strenuous delays. Finally it feels as though the wait is over and our clenched stomachs and sweaty palms are prep'd and ready for the 14 hour flight to our new home!

What sparked this early post (as this was supposed to be a Korea blog) was a ridiculously long and unexpectedly gratifying yesterday afternoon.

After returning from the Korean Consulate in Toronto, we ran some errands to stock up on a few last minute items. (ranch dressing, hershey chocolate, natural sleep aids, tea, a notebook, and a travel game called Bananagrams!) When we were leaving Zehr's, I realized that I was not wearing my Scotland scarf! "Oh No!" I exclaimed. We quickly ran to her car to find that the scarf was not there either. Devastated, we began to backtrack our steps to find the elusive scarf.

If anyone is wondering why I was "devastated" by the loss of a scarf, please note the following:

1) Nicole got me the scarf early in our relationship
2) Nicole thoughtfully bought the scarf in my ancestral home of Scotland
3) Nicole thoughtfully bought a scarf that had my Grant clan Tartan on it
4) It's the only scarf I've ever owned or ever worn
5) Both the scarf and Nicole mean the world to me.

Now back on track. We first went to Chapters in Waterloo, checked the lost and found, and searched the parking lot with no results. Then we moved on to Nature Pharm around the corner, searched the parking lot, and queried the store staff. Again, no scarf! We then went back to Zehr's and searched the store (including under a number of display cases), checked the lost and found, and did a brief scan of the parking lot. With no scarf in site, and very distraught, I wandered into the "Joe" section in Zehr's hoping beyond hope to find a woefully inadequate but similar looking scarf. All they had were purple and grey Thermo-silk scarfs or something like that. Awful.

Slowly making my way out of the store, feeling down in the dumps and apologizing to Nicole for my horrible memory and poor attention skills, we headed for the car. More to cheer her and myself up than anything, I started spinning around and frantically scanning the parking lot again for the scarf.

But wait! What's that?! I spotted a small bundle of red about 100 feet from where we parked under the front of a cheap Honda Civic. I raced toward it, a spark of hope growing into a bonfire of wonder and disbelief. There was my scarf! My slightly dirty, slightly frozen, Grant Tartan plaid scarf! Oh what a time to be alive!!!

It immediately brightened both of our days, and I took it as a positive sign for our journey ahead. Then we went home and watched Friends.

The End

Best from both of us,

Joe


P.S. If anyone has seen "A Very Long Engagement" (Nicole got me to watch it the other day and it was very good), early in the search for the scarf I pealed a Clementine in the car and said "if I don't break this orange peel I will find the scarf". I did not break the peel. Coincidence? Perhaps. Awesome? Definitely.

Cheerio