I've always been interested in aliens, maybe in more of a fashion-oriented way. I went to college in New Mexico, as you probably already know. It's the state where aliens supposedly once landed in Area 51, Los Alamos and Roswell. In fact, Roswell is home to a lot of alien memorabilia shops, but the three times I've gone back to visit since college, I've never gone to them, so I didn't get any alien jewelry. I did buy a compass bracelet and came home for my first "Christmas back" sporting it on my wrist.

My mother thought this was strange and gifted me with a boring, black-strapped, white-faced wristwatch, which I promptly sold to my maiden aunt in front of the Christmas tree. My usual creative way to deal with my mother's fashion picks was to sell or trade them, and besides, I get lost rather easily and needed the compass to navigate O'Hare airport on the way home. I wish aliens might have given me a ride back and dropped me off on their way to Los Alamos or Roswell. I don't think I would be afraid, because I'm the adventurous type and fall in with strangers pretty fast.

Let's now time travel to a couple of years ago, when I lost one of my alien earrings after getting an x-ray in a local doctor's office. I had pulled off my turtleneck sweater, hoping to escape quickly! Later I went back and spoke to the receptionist, who by the way had heavily tattooed hands and arms resting on a lapis lazuli-blue granite countertop. She looked at me as if I was from another planet when I asked her if they had found my alien earring, and if I could go back and look for it. I even misplaced a replacement pair! I'm sure they're around here somewhere, probably under the sofa cushion I sit on as I write this.

Enter my dear readers from the Cape Gazette. After reading about my loss, one reader sent me a beautiful pair of purple and green spaceship earrings via Amazon Prime. Then there was Deb Stokes, a licensed clinical psychologist who has a practice in Lewes. She has a PhD in psychology and operated The Better Brain Center in Alexandria, Va., for 17 years. She and her husband Jim Semivan moved to Lewes in 2017.

Jim had a 25-year career in the CIA, retiring in 2007 as a member of its Senior Intelligence Service. He then worked part time as an independent consultant for the intelligence community until 2019. In 2016, Jim started a company called To the Stars Inc. with rock musician Tom DeLonge and his band Blink-182. This entertainment company primarily focuses on unidentified aerial phenomena or UAPs, formerly known as UFOs, and other esoteric topics.

Deb kindly offered to give me a collection of alien jewelry. I was thrilled, and never one to turn down a gift, so we drove right over to their charming Lewes house. Deb handed me an orange pouch (my favorite color) full of alien goodies including two or three pairs of alien earrings and even alien socks. Plus, she invited me into her fascinating she shed full of memorabilia – and even a couple of my artworks!

Recently, she commissioned an alien painting of mine for Jim's birthday. I was thrilled to do one again and went all out, with glow-in-the-dark paint depicting alien creatures landing on our planet earth. It now hangs prominently in Jim's man cave, which features many books and some alien mementos.

The subject of alien phenomena is a bit like sculpture, which can be either additive or subtractive. A lot of plaster can be added in the form of supposition and science fiction, or the dark veins of the marble in the form of mystery and fear of the unknown can be carved out.

What would I do if aliens showed themselves at the foot of my bed one night? I'd probably take some advice like that of a young Milton pizza maker who shall remain nameless. Like many of us who only whisper about aliens, he softly said, "I'd teach them to make pizza!" Assuming I didn't freeze up, I'd probably ask them if I could paint their portrait. They'd know I was a friend, because I'd be wearing my alien earrings and alien socks from Deb Stokes!

Oh, well, it will probably be until the half-life of carbon-14 passes before that ever happens!