OK, it's not Canada. But it is certainly not Mexico, either. Or Salem.
My brother was in town yesterday to deliver his daughter (my niece) to university. While he was in Salem, we decided to get rid of some of the piles in my living room.
So, off we went. A full load of computer parts ended up at the same business that shredded my legal files. Including some pieces that were fully operational. It turns out that Garten hires people with disabilities to break down the components for usable parts. One man's trash, another man's treasure.
Feeling better for Doing Good, we then packed up Darrel's Subaru for a delivery of my household goods to Goodwill. It turns out that Goodwill (like the Salvation Army) no longer picks up donations. That means I will be making several trips to Goodwill with more items on Friday and over the weekend.
I have been a bit surprised at how easy it is to turn loose of what once reflected my life. All of the stereo equipment, books, travel mementos, and clothing we delivered yesterday once meant something to me. And they were the very things I could not turn loose of when I headed to Mexico four years ago.
What I learned while being away from them is that I can live a good life -- maybe even a better life -- without being anchored to a Lot of Stuff. And that is what the pile now appears to be to me. Just Stuff. Not even My Stuff.
After we finished our Goodwill run, we loaded up boxes of books to deliver to our mother. I have lots of hardbound biographies -- the type of reading she enjoys. Rather than donate them to strangers, I decided to pass them along to her.
And, because the books were headed to Bend, I decided to join my brother on the drive over. After all, I had not spent time with Darrel and Mom on this trip north.
So, the three of us had hamburgers and ice cream cones for dinner, and talked about what we should do for Mom's 85th birthday next month. It looks as if a visit to Mexico is in the offing -- as soon as she recovers from this Friday's surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome.
It was a brief visit. I will be heading back to Salem on the shuttle bus around 11 this morning. That is, as soon as we finish another Cotton tradition in Bend. Eggs Benedict for breakfast.
It is almost time to say good-bye to the snow.
