House cleaning is basic: start at the top, dust down, vacuum up, done.
Or, dust down, vacuum up, scrub sinks and toilets, then done.
Or, look at your stuff with dust around it and make a decision of stay or go, then vacuum and scrub, and you’re done.
What am I missing? I’ll tell you what I’m not missing.
I’ve got a triptych of Mt. St. Helens before eruption, during, and after.
It’s staying. I saw the whole thing when it happened.
Besides, the framed piece is a gift from one of my boys. (Hey D)
Another keeper is a picture of a maniac looking granddad trying to get a kid to jump in the water.
It’s me, and she jumped. Call it a precious day in the pool.
The Big Time Stays
I’ve got a piece of the Berlin Wall encased in acrylic with the title “A Piece of German History.”
If anyone is missing it, let me know. Where did it come from?
The Wall is next to a 10,000 Dinar note from the Central Bank of Iraq.
I got that as payment with a promise: “Next week the U.S. will change the currency in Iraq and you will have $10,000 dollars.”
Really? So I checked. 10,000 dinars is worth $7.63, give or take.
I’ve got to give the guy credit for trying. At least he didn’t ask for anything upfront before the currency changed.
The receipts for tickets to the Roman baths in Bath, (or Bauth) England aren’t going anywhere. Yet.
The whole town is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It all sounds grand until you drive in, park your car, and go to your room.
The parking lots have a tricky payment system that involves paying for the day, moving the car, and coming back in for the night, or finding another lot.
We had a room in what must have been a World Heritage dive with a twisty stairway up to a room about the size of a desk that rose in price the closer it got to the weekend.
It went from expensive because it was a central location, to too expensive. We left before the hike, which was part of the plan with a smart traveler.
So, yes on the Roman Bath tickets.
The House Cleaning Surprises
There’s something that looks like a miniature post cleaner for a car battery, or a nose hair trimmer.
I’m not sticking it in my nose and twisting it, but my wife might. I’ll save it for her.
The family tree with little pictures of my mom and dad, then big brother and I, with little brother and sister on the bottom branches?
Stays.
My parents are in their forties and looking spry.
The rest of us range from high school to swaddling.
I got it after my Dad died and step-mom cleaned house.
She also gave me the watch that belonged to Grandpa G, a silver colored railroad pocket watch under a glass dome.
In the same Memory Box were the comic books my parents confiscated because I read in my room too much when I should have been playing PeeWee Baseball with my friends.
And my Dad’s basketball trophy.
The old man was a baller in his day.
After a disagreement between Ma and Pa, the trophies got broken.
The one I’ve got was missing a leg so I made a base out of nice wood and mounted the stump on top.
What To Keep
Keepsakes, that’s what to keep, the keepsakes.
I’m keeping the 10,000 note because a screwy guy believed it was more than it was and seemed disappointed I didn’t agree with him.
The Berlin Wall? I’m keeping that hunk of cement as a reminder that all big, imposing, walls, come down in time.
I’ve got three dead cameras. Why? In case I don’t want to take a picture.
I’ve got ‘how to’ writing books on shelf after shelf. One of these days one of them is bound to kick in.
Until then I’ll keep going.
My new favorite is Usula Le Guin’s ‘Steering The Craft.’
If I turn into a hoarder with a problem, I’ve got the perfect place.
I could hoard it up for a decade and still have room.
With a crawl space under the house, a crawl space in the garage ceiling, in a hallway ceiling, and storage doors off two bedrooms, I could hoard away and no one would be the wiser.
But, that’s not how it’s supposed to work.
You’re supposed to eject anything that doesn’t give you joy, anything you haven’t used in a period of time, anything that reminds you of a stressful time.
I look to The Spruce for house cleaning guidance:
When it comes to decluttering your home, it can often become difficult to know what to keep and throw out so you have a tidy space by the end of your organizing.
Whether it’s clothing or shoes, paper clutter, or miscellaneous items, you don’t want to hold onto any items that no longer serve you or your space.
To help make the decluttering process easier and faster, we’ve rounded up seven questions you can ask yourself so you can decide what’s worth tossing or keeping.
About David Gillaspie
