ROLLING PENNIES

Today I rolled pennies. That may seem insignificant but it's a nice little ritual. I save them in the same Gattuso olive jar in the shape of an owl that I've used since I was a kid growing up in Milton, Ontario. As I pile them in stacks of 10 I keep a look out for old ones.

Usually I consider anything from the 60s and older fair game. I remember when it was not unusual to find coins from the 1800s in your change. Once I got an Indian Head U.S. penny at the grocery store. If I got one now I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven. Now, the very oldest you find is usually from the 40s.

The other thing is it's meditative. Anything that slows you down is a good idea. Calm and reflective, that's the ticket. You look at the dates and think back to what it was like around that time. I found an American penny from 1952 today. That was only a couple of years after I was born. You have to wonder what's it been doing all this time. How many grubby pockets has it been in? How many houses; how many vintage cars? Nothing endures like coinage.