paper-light

We are enjoying a pleasant spring in Melaque.  The days are warm.  The nights are cool.

I am going to enjoy it while I can.  If history is any guide, within weeks the weather will turn -- with much higher temperatures and humidity.

But spring also means new beginnings.  And a good excuse for cleaning.

Not general cleaning.  Dora takes care of that weekly -- and far better than I could.  It my paper accumulation that was yesterday's target.

When I moved down here, I had one hard rule.  I would restrict my possessions to what I could pack in my Escape in one hour.

The rule has served me well.  It keeps me from buying all the artsy chachskies that catch my eye -- and would otherwise clutter my house and life.  Such as that sculpture I wanted in Pátzcuaro last summer -- commies, nudes, and live tunes.
 
But what I did not keep an eye on was the amount of paper that rolls into my life daily.  Car documents.  Immigration forms.  Telephone bills.  Or so I thought.

If you followed the cleanup of my Salem house, you know that I tend to retain paper in the way some ankles retain water.  In the process of selling the house, I threw out sixty years of accumulated detritus.  The paper filled several recycle barrels and a shredder truck.

I knew I did not have that much paper in Melaque.  And it turned out I was correct.  I have been better at throwing away things I do not need when I no longer need them.  For a lot of paper that time is when I finish reading it.

With about two hours of work, I weeded out the papers I have kept for no good reason.  The first to go were Jiggs's medical records.  What is the point in keeping them?

And after that, it was easy to get rid of the pile of documents I needed to move to Mexico, but no longer need because I am here.

The result?  A small shopping bag of paper that will head to the local garbage dump.

What I kept were all of my immigration documents, my receipt for taking the Escape out of the country, copies of the documents I used to obtain my permanent resident visa, and my most recent telephone bill to prove where I live (because someone is going to ask for it) -- all fitting into folders that I can hold in one hand.

It is a nice beginning.  For two reasons.  The first is the realization that I am not hanging onto a lot of unnecessary paper.  My fast escape will not be impeded by paper weight. 

But the second is more important.  I am now down to fighting weight (in paper, at least) to start this new chapter in my Mexican adventure.