Christmas Presents

We had a water meter replacement, part of a sweeping urban trend to have transducers outside the house so meter readers can get data without entering the premises. I suspect there are safety issues involved.

My water meter is tucked away in a corner of the basement in a small hutch built by the original owners. The bottom part is enclosed and the upper has shelves on which I place knives and small flashlights. One side of the shelves, almost as an afterthought, has a small square of wood to cover the plumbing that feeds an outdoor faucet at the front side of the house. 

I had to move things around for the technician and afterward, before returning the clutter to its places, I decided to clean a little. Guess what I found? Are you fascinated by those stories on Facebook about people who find bags of money or valuable property hidden in their house? Secret rooms, hidden safes, tunnels that lead off into the darkness, so mysterious. Me, too! But I don’t believe them. If I discovered confederate gold in my basement, or piles of currency from the 50’s the last thing I would do is put it on the internet. 

What I did find was a folding ceramic blade knife with a plastic handle tucked behind a cold-water pipe on the 1X1 frame.

I remember buying this, but how did it end up hidden away?

 One shelf down I found a Stanley folding utility knife in a similar position.

A utility knife from my father-in-law, but no reason to keep it secret

What dark purpose were these knives used for and then hidden out of the light? 

 Beats me. I own both of them and have been wondering where the two of them have gotten. All I can figure is they got shoved behind the flimsy wood partition and ended up hidden. I did check a few other areas, just in case Jimmy Hoffa left some money, but no luck. 

The corner is so tight I couldn’t even photograph the knives in place. Drilling and running a small screw to secure the wood was difficult and I had to resort to using a mirror to get a semi-decent photo of the new screw. Still, I wonder. I have my suspicions on how the knives got back there, but I’ll never know for sure. 

Wait!  What's that shadow in the mirror?  Could it be......

Maybe this is more of a Halloween story, than Christmas.