One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was to get out Mom’s button tin. It was a round tin chock full of random buttons. The colors! The textures! Some were plain while others were glossy and glitzy. I remember sparkly jet buttons and big, flat buttons.

It seems like everyone used to have a button box. And, of course, that’s because we FIXED clothes instead of just replacing them. Mom would sew that lost button back on my dress or Dad’s work shirt. Once, I even changed all the buttons on a coat to give it a new look.

I have a button box of my own although I rarely need to dig through it. Still, it’s fun to stir all those pretty buttons remembering the shirt that had the red, silk knot-style buttons. The coat with the leather, woven buttons. And now, as I look ahead to the publication of my next novel in December, I have an extra special button to add to the collection. Because a button plays an important role in the story of water dowser Sulley Harris . . .

Can you find it in the picture there?