Ridding Out Continues

We were back in the basement today, sorting, tossing, filling the donations box, sweeping, dusting, exploring the unknowns of mysterious boxes.

I couldn’t believe what turned up. A grocery bag full of gloves, scarves, hats and mittens that have been missing for years, for example. 

Tablecloths I’ve never seen before and several kitschy knickknacks turned up, along with two china 50^th anniversary cups and saucers. A truly ugly hand blown glass clown, whose provenance we cannot recall showed up in that box, too. We think it was a gift. Well, never mind.

We couldn’t bring ourselves to dispose of two old typewriters. Who knows when we might need one of them?

I found a sufficient stash of cleaned and cut gourds to make all the masks I am likely ever to create.

I also found a big storage box filled with small, beautiful (to me) pieces of driftwood.

The sweetest find of all was a bag of eucalyptus pods that Nancy and Zachary, who was two, collected for me when they lived in Monterey. When I opened the bag today, sixteen years later, the wonderful eucalyptus fragrance wafted up, not as strong, but still powerful enough to evoke memories of misty walks on winding streets beneath fragrant eucalyptus trees. More importantly, I remembered the little boy who wanted me to play football with him and who, a year or two later, cut off part of my hair while I was watching the news.

It was two hours of puzzlement, surprise, grouping similar things and pleasant memories. O Boy, does this feel good! Everything looks orderly and there's plenty of room to roller skate if one wanted to, but we have yet to delve into forty boxes or so. What discoveries await us!

Copyright, 2012 Shirley Domer