Saturday, February 09, 2008

Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me

Old shop window photo is the illustration.

Title is a quote from Robert Crumb, I think, and is the title of collected letters of his.

I can't believe how much my mother-in-law cares about some stuff. How she wants to keep things we've had all these years and are ready to let go. I can't believe how much junk they have in their garage. (FFP mentioned a large number of golf clubs.) But, of course, they don't need to house a car because they can't drive. They were working out there on the garage when we went by to drop off a new tea kettle. They are 88 and 97 and they were out there cleaning out the garage, I guess.

The quote from Robert Crumb occurred to me. I had that book actually. I gave it to the thrift store, I think. Although I'm sure it was full of gems like that you could use for titles of blog entries.

We keep getting rid of stuff. Right and left. Freecycle, curb, thrift store, giving to specific people. I had some stuff to 'freecycle' and one person didn't show up for pickup. So I offered to another person. Around the middle of the day today a kid showed up on a bicycle with a skinned shoulder, knee and cut above his eye. He'd ridden his bike here but there was too much to take on his bike. On the way, he'd wiped out and kissed the pavement. He had on a helmet, thankfully. We gave him some alcohol and Band Aids and told him we'd deliver the stuff. (Several cubic feet, truth to tell.) He lived near the new Mueller complex. They have stores like Bed, Bath and Beyond there. So we were able to slip in there and buy the tea kettle.

I'm not sure I have that much vigor for life! My stuff weighs me down. Keeping the place tidy seems to be helping my mood although each project takes longer since I have to get everything put away after.

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