Last year I placed three baseball cards in my wallet with plans to carry them around with me for the next 12 months. It is an idea I have seen elsewhere and I found the process fun. Importantly, it focused the process behind picking a card on enjoyment of the cardboard rather than checking off a box in collecting a set and keeping cards in mint condition. At some point in the past it was fun to put favorite cards in bicycle spokes, then top loaders and Ultra-Pro binders appeared with the message that this shouldn’t be fun anymore.
This project changes that. These cards are destroyed and I couldn’t be happier about it. I found that cards stored in my wallet accrue damage in specific patterns. Small creases appear along the edges fairly quickly, setting in within a few days. Heavy wear and rounded corners did not begin to appear in earnest until more than five months had passed. The corners don’t look that bad in some of the pictures below despite being several months into the project. At 10 months layers of cardboard began to separate on the Fleer and Topps cards.
Highlights from 2021
This was a pretty good year. We found some fun places to visit, spending an afternoon underground in a system of caves in Virginia and lounging at the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week during the summer. The Hall of Dinosaurs has reopened at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History and provided the centerpiece of a visit to DC’s major museums. I somewhat returned to the office at work, garnering a new corner office and some exciting projects in the process. Working from home became nicer as well with new flooring arriving in August.
For my wife’s birthday I surprised her and friends with a chartered sailboat ride. We saw a navy submarine during the trip but cut the sail short with a storm rolling in. Appearing just below is the scene just after exiting the boat with winds beginning to pick up.
Wallet Cards in 2022?
This was fun. Would I do it again? Absolutely. This year will continue the power hitting theme with a look back at the home run chases of 1998 and 2001.
