It was another breezy, blustery day in the beautiful Snoqualmie Valley. I had just stepped out of the QFC after picking up a few items for dinner.

As I was heading across the parking lot to my car, the breeze blew a green thing right up to me. Quickly, almost without thinking, I stepped on it to halt its wind-blown progress. Good shot! As I leaned down to pick it up, I could see it was a $20 bill. What a lucky devil I was.

As I unloaded my groceries into the car, I began to think, what if this was someone’s last bucks for food? What if they really needed this cash? Was someone nearby agonizing about losing this money? I headed back into the QFC and, approaching the teller at Sno Falls Credit Union counter, asked “Has anyone reported losing one of these?” I waved the twenty in the teller’s face.

“Not today,” she answered with a smile. “But I have several others just like it.”

I stopped by the check-out lines and asked the same question of the cashiers. They looked at me like I was crazy.

Going back outside, I felt a bit foolish being so concerned about a mere 20 bucks. So, I just stood outside the door and surveyed the parking lot, looking for anyone who looked like they were looking for something lost. Nope, no indication of that, either.

Trying to puzzle this out, I did notice that the way the wind was blowing, it could have been carried over from the North Bend Post Office across the street.

I hopped in my car and drove over there, parked and went directly to the counter. I asked the girl there if anyone had said anything about losing a $20 bill. I got another strange look as she replied, “Not recently. Do you want to buy some stamps?”

Assuring her that I did not, I left to try and figure out what I should do next. Pocket the $20? Or go home or do something different.

My mind dwelt on what 20 bucks could mean to someone: bread, milk, eggs… the makings for a breakfast for a family of four for a couple of days… four gallons of gas to drive to work… two tickets to a movie. I finally decided that the basic issue was, “Was the money needed?” Or was it just in the “nice to have” category? Those were questions I couldn’t answer, and this was a puzzle I couldn’t solve.

I got back in the car and, leaving the post office, made an illegal left turn onto North Bend Way, going west. I didn’t give it much thought as I was still wondering what to do with this twenty. I drove down by the ACE hardware store, then up the road to the North Bend Library. It was a Wednesday, and as I neared the library I drove past the church where Mount Si Food Bank is. There was a line of people outside, and I finally, at last it seemed, had a good idea.

I remembered a quote I had read somewhere. “Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit.” I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I parked the car and, walking up to the food bank, located one of the volunteer workers inside and handed her the bill. I wished her good day, got back in my car and headed for home.

The day got a little brighter, the sun came out and the wind died down. I think Mount Si even smiled at me as I drove away.

• Bob Edwards is a North Bend resident and member of SnoValley Writes! E-mail him at bobledwards@comcast.net.