Redding Up

Jen gave me my birthday present yesterday—she helped me comb through all my bedroom bookshelves. We sorted shit out, culling the books I won’t be reading again—these will be donated to our local public library. Old, unneeded paperwork and unloved tchotchkes were tossed, dusting was performed, furniture was rearranged or removed.

I feel so much better.

If I stayed on top of things I wouldn’t need to go all Marie Kondo every few years. The last time I did a big sort and purge was after The Amazing Bob died. It was just one way of dealing with my insane grief levels. That was six years ago. The amount of stuff I've accumulated in the relatively short time since then, astounds me.

Next big project will be my enormous collection of earrings. I stopped wearing them when this last surgery-a-thon began in late 2018. Why? Too much to think about maybe. Now that I'm out of the habit of wearing earrings, I could donate them or, possibly, create sparkly sculptures or mosaic window art out of them. Yeah, I’m thinking those last two ideas are winners.

I also need to unearth the dining room table. Back in the days (2020, I think) when the EMTs were hauling my gurneyed ass down our slim stairway on a weekly basis, a lot of framed prints crashed down from the walls. Two burly ambulance medics, me on a stretcher and artwork hanging on the stairwell walls—something had to give. So, on our dining table is a stack of broken frames (repairable?), art and photos. Time to see what can be saved and what’s a loss.

Now that I’m more mobile/less disastrously unsteady I want to tidy and purge the hell outta this place. What’s the point of having a ton of stuff if I’m not regularly using it? None—there is no point.

By the way, though I’m still rickety, I can get around the house without the walker. Granted, I steady myself with a hand on our grab bar festooned walls or on the odd table edge or stair railing. Walking sans support requires, at this point, a stunning amount of focus. I can't wait until walking from bed to loo can be accomplished without much thought.

Now I’ve got this tune stuck in my head. That’s okay though.