Possessed!

Clorox, the Redding demon

My handsome man!

In case you were locked in a closet yesterday, the day was astoundingly, breathtakingly beautiful. I’d thought Gee, this’d be a good day to hit Nantasket and then I discovered that the tide was out – it was prime beach scrambling time here at home.

Off I went, down our nameless stretch of sand and surf, up, over and around Nut Island, then down to Parkhurst Beach. Glorious. Just fucking awesomely glorious.

It was obvs that, after its morning shower, the planet had spritzed on the expensive shit – Spring Ocean #5. The Amazing Bob noted that, It smells so good that, for the first time ever, I wish I had a bigger nose.

After walkies, I came home, opened all the windows and suddenly, weirdly became possessed by Clorox, the cleaning demon. I went through giant piles of old papers. Mortgage app docs from 13 years ago – FILED! (mortgage is paid off so…ummmm…did I really need to file those versus toss?) Old grocery and ToDo lists, junk mail – TOSSED! Newspapers and mags – RECYCLED! And then I found a box of old snail mail. In it was a six year old thank you note from Oni’s father for cookies and fudge we'd sent him for Christmas. Bruce died a few years back – seeing his handwriting, reading the note, it felt like he was still here with us.

Marie Kondō, in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing asks:

Does touching the object ‘spark joy’? If not, get rid of it.

In a review at The Washing ton Post, Elizabeth Tenety notes that:

Kondo’s approach sounds harsh, but consider her reasons: “Are you happy wearing clothes that don’t give you pleasure? Do you feel joy when surrounded by piles of unread books that don’t touch your heart? Do you think that owning accessories you know you’ll never use will bring you happiness?” she ponders. (Spoiler alert for hoarders: The correct answer is “no.”)

I'll be keeping Bruce's note as well as all the wonderfully thoughtful cards from my fabulous sister Celeste because, yes, they spark joy.

Today' gonna be another stunner. There’ll be more tidying, more purging and maybe even some dusting. I might even *gasp* empty out my bedroom closet. I hate to disturb Rocco though – he's claimed it as his own.

First, a trike ride.

The beach roses are blooming!