Monday

My friend Kathy called me this morning and suggested that I get started sorting for the garage sale I might have in May. I thought this involved a leisurely poke through a few drawers in the bedroom and didn't see it as an imposition. I didn't protest and even drove out to school to pick up some Office Max boxes I bought last year in a fit of pique when I threatened to quit my job. But when Kathy showed up at 10:00, she had a different plan in mind. She wanted to start in the basement. I don't let very many people into my basement, it being the home of a multitude of dead bug carcasses and major dust bunnies. Kathy and Harvey had the unfortunate experience of spending some time down there last August when they were here for dinner during a tornado so I thought it quite brave of her to suggest we start there. In about four hours, we filled five huge contractor bags with stuff for the dump and three of the same kind of bag with stuff for the thrift store. It was an embarassing ordeal, let me tell you. Kathy doesn't have a thing out of place and doesn't keep anything past the time when it's useful. I have crap I've dragged around for thirty years, hoping I might read it again, find a use for it again, or want to look at it again. In that time, the crap has accumulated a fine collection of dust mites, bug bodies, and cobwebs. Well, it was trash bag time for that crap today. Kathy doesn't like garbage bags sitting around waiting for the day you might want to dispose of them...unlike me. We squashed it into the car and drove it out to school. We almost filled a big dumpster...I hope our custodian doesn't have to throw anything away for a while. It turned out to be a nice day, even with the basement purge. We cooked shrimp on the grill and had American fries and garlic toast. Nothing like a few carbs and a little wine to take the sting out of cleaning.