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.
Looks like a typical winter scene here. Pretty to look at but the single digit temperatures have been hard to warm up to.
ReplyDeleteDO NOT miss snow. Congrats on the continued slimming down (possessions ;-) "Freedom's just another word for having nothin' left to lose." (In a possession sense in this case ;-)
ReplyDeleteAhh, Eggs Benedict, something which is very hard to get here SOB. They try, but just can't get the right muffins and Canadian ham, even if they buy it at Costco.....
ReplyDeleteYou are so right in the tossing of stuff that use to be cherished. Each time we returned to the states we had a purging so to speak, and after a few years and trips figured out that it wasn't worth anything but to us, tried selling stuff on Ebay, and it wasn't worth the effort and mental anguish remembering of what we actully paid for the stuff.
If I had it to do over again, I would have just rented a dumspter and got it over in one fell swoop.
There is kind of a feeling of freedom as Calypso says, now if we just had that knowledge for the prior 25 years, we wouldn't have gone through all the mental anguish. Our society is built on accumulating toys,etc, and not the freedom from....you will now enjoy that freedom!
(and helping a great organization)
From Andean (it published on the old Blogger comment system that does not show up here) --
ReplyDeleteLooks like a typical winter scene here. Pretty to look at but the single digit temperatures have been hard to warm up to.
A lyric worth living.
ReplyDeleteI am doing my best to avoid new stuff. At least, without giving up something old. My Kindle, for example.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to live where there is much of this ice and snow.
ReplyDeleteThe Eggs Benedict were perfect. But there was no shuttle to ride. Apparently, it has been having a bad record lately.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my sainted brother is riding (or driving) to the rescue. It will give us some more time to spend together. At least, one way -- on the drive to Salem.
When I moved to Mexico I found divesting myself of all my worldly possessions extremely liberating. In retrospect, though, I wonder why I got rid of ABSOLUTELY everything. Like cooking utensils, for example. I just had to go out and buy more. Did I think I was no longer going to eat? Or cook?
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you bring up cooking utensils. When the house sells, several small pieces will head south with me. I took some f my best pieces with me (including new pots and pans) when I moved south in 2009.
ReplyDelete