I am not one...nor a hoarder, like those on the reality TV shows who have rooms filed with so much junk you can't walk into them.
But I do tend to keep stuff for a long time.
For example, this crate.
If my memory is correct, I carried it with me from New York City to Birmingham in 1976. I had picked it up off a trash pile near a grocery store in the city. I was living in a tiny apartment with a minimum of furniture, so I stained it and made it a part of my furnishings.
Fine. But why do I still have it now?
I'm not sure. It has served all kinds of purposes over the years...an end table and a storage unit for record albums and a plant stand and a...well, you get the idea. I've lived in seven places in Alabama, and have always carried it with me.
This week was clean-out the back-house time, and again it rose to the surface, this time destined for the dump when the trash is picked up next week.
All I have to do is resist the urge to pull it from the pile and save it. Maybe LP's will come back? Maybe it qualifies as an antique now?
But I do tend to keep stuff for a long time.
If my memory is correct, I carried it with me from New York City to Birmingham in 1976. I had picked it up off a trash pile near a grocery store in the city. I was living in a tiny apartment with a minimum of furniture, so I stained it and made it a part of my furnishings.
Fine. But why do I still have it now?
I'm not sure. It has served all kinds of purposes over the years...an end table and a storage unit for record albums and a plant stand and a...well, you get the idea. I've lived in seven places in Alabama, and have always carried it with me.
This week was clean-out the back-house time, and again it rose to the surface, this time destined for the dump when the trash is picked up next week.
All I have to do is resist the urge to pull it from the pile and save it. Maybe LP's will come back? Maybe it qualifies as an antique now?
Neither am I a hoarder, but next to this desk is aother desk, which was a gift on my 15th birthday. Solid maple, and it will last much longer than me! Of course, it's not configured for a computer. We didn't have those things back in 1957.
ReplyDeleteI also have some tools from my grandfather's time, but I admit that I haven't used them since Hector was a pup.