Stolen With A Curse...!

Many of us have probably picked up something off the ground while visiting a park or historical place, intending to keep it as a small souvenir. Maybe that isn't such a good idea...it might be cursed.

Petrified Forest Rocks

Photo credit: Jon Sullivan

At Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, the temptation to pocket souvenirs most be particularly great because they are everywhere. One giant pile is known to rangers as the “conscience pile,” all returned by thieves over the years.

A pair of writers discovered at least 1,200 letters accompanying the returns, dating back to 1934. They collected around 50 of the most incredible into a book, from those whose conscience suddenly wouldn’t leave them alone to others that . . . well, just take a read:

“Upon returning home we first found out that my stepmother had kidney failure, then our dog died . . . I had a really close call in having a bad auto accident, our truck broke down needing major repairs, our cat died and last night . . . A gas well blew out a cap causing us to be evacuated from our home a while. So please take these pieces back before we have any more bad luck . . . ”

Apparently Roman, Maori, Egyptian and Native curses have nothing on very, very old trees.

I may not always agree with the idea of curses, but I figure why take a chance, ya know? Better safe than sorry! Read more about stolen artifacts with curses here!

Coffee once again out on the patio.