Agriculture
The Day I Learned the Consequences of Smuggling Illegal Substances
Unintentionally I brought a dangerous object back from vacation
I watched the sniffer dog approaching, head down, tail wagging, intent on his mission; at the other end of his lead was an unsmiling, buzz-cut hair, uniformed individual.
Tired and scruffy after an overnight flight, the line shuffled forward as, one by one, a traveler got the canine okay. My tired brain did a recap of the contents of my beaten-up suitcase. A few souvenirs, only prescription drugs, and dear Lord, I’d forgotten the expensive, smelly cheese wrapped in cellophane, a bra destined for the wash, a T-shirt, and a small towel. Would Hagrid’s namesake pass me by?
He did not. In front of my interested fellow passengers, Hagrid did his thing and proudly presented the world with my cheese. He showed no interest in my other purchases, which included a string of Takamaka Seeds, a necklace made from the seeds of a local tree in the Seychelles Islands, and tidily contained in a small brown paper bag.
Back home, I discovered my Takamaka seed necklace had not survived my frantic last-minute packing. The string was broken, and the seeds were loose in the small bag. “I’ll put the whole thing into a small Ziplock…
