Cooler

I pass a broken cooler on the freeway today. If Colby were here he would have made me stop for it. From what I can tell as I whiz by, one hinge that holds the lid on is broken, but otherwise the cooler is in good shape. It is a red cooler, large, with a white top. Colby would have pulled the top off and used the bottom half to store CDs or books, baseball cards, socks, music cords, old magazines or a host of other things that need to stay together. He might have put a piece of wire through the hinge, or strapped it up with duct tape and kept the lid with the cooler. Then he might have given it to a homeless person or a traveling musician, or used it to protect a mixing board the next time we drove to Minnesota.

Colby might have done a number of things with the cooler. But he is not here to do anything with it. So instead, it lies on the shoulder on Briley Parkway somewhere between Ashland City Highway and I-24. I hope someone else stops for it because it still has some life left in it. Maybe not in its original intended purpose, but someone could use it for something, rather than have it take up space in a landfill. I decide to look for it the next time I head that direction. If it is still there, I will stop, pick it up, dust it off and throw it in the back of the truck. If it is still there, I will find it a new home.