hello friends. thinking about you today as i enjoy a week-long vacation right here at home. the fires have been devastating, but i remain safe and sound. my thoughts are up north with the people of paradise, california. the entire town was wiped out and 700 people are still missing. an excellent article about the missing HERE if you want to read it.
i know how the people fared in that fire, but i also wonder and worry about the poor dear animals. i’ve seen several disturbing photos online of dogs, cats, horses, deer, racoons, and other animals big and small burned badly (but still alive). i love this firefighter and the cat who found him.
this is our new reality in california. fire season is nearly year-round now. they move fast and burn hot, then the rains come, and with them…mudslides. but we who love california carry on, because like most peole know there is always a spring of some kind on every horizon.
you may have noticed my photos are unrelated to the narrative. what else is new? i meant to weave an update around the latest pics living inside iphone, but well, here’s what you get instead.
i’ve been on a super-sized garage purge. my old detached garage is full of 16 year’s worth of crapola and i’m determined to get rid of 90% of it. the reorganization also extended to my closet. move out the summer stuff, find the winter stuff, get rid of things i don’t wear, commit to NOT buying replacement clothes. this all started when i went into the garage to find a wool sweater and black hat to take to venice. found!
my last trip to venice was 6 years ago, but um, my wardrobe this time around will be nearly identical. including an old red flannel nightgown i found and am wearing right now…
wondering if it’s possible for a recovering maximalist to become a minimalist. maybe!
my 20-something self saved this clipping and my 50-something self found it in the garage. right where my 30-something self placed it many moons ago. i removed it from the recycle pile and glued it into my journal.
i also found this pic from my very first year of teaching. this was on culmination day and these girls were on their way to the 6th grade! they’d be in their 30’s now…
when i say purge, i include sentimental claptrap that i don’t actually need. i’m going to take photos of my childhood dolls and then send them on their way into the great beyond. this picture is going into my journal.
“there is a foreward motion to yearning”
as i move towards a new life after retirement i need and want to learn to live with less, consume less, waste less. part of my evolving plan is selling moss cottage, finding a less expensive house, buying a campervan, and hitting the road part-time. i don’t think i can be a full-time nomad, but being away for 1-2 months at a time surrounded by tall trees, deep canyons, little highways, wild ocean, and dark dark skies might work.
i think about this and write about it all the time. nearly every day some new thought gets recorded in my journal. it’s how i process things. cleaning out my garage feels like a giant step in the right direction. the gradual letting go of an old life and moving towards something new.
on today’s walk this canary island pine reminded me of a furry teddy bear. the long soft needles ring themselves around the trunk every 2 feet or so. most unusual.
it’s a perfect time of year to walk with daytime temps in the upper 60’s
on my bookshelf:
i hope you’re well friends. making big plans of your own. moving towards new adventures while letting the old ones live beside you. keep me posted. i’ll just be in my garage going through some thangz. xo
I admire you for your tenacity in cleaning out the crapola. I’ve got all that ahead of me, since we closed on our house (finally). I’m kinda dreading the move, to be honest. But, onward!
Saw a photo of a rabbit that had been hurt in the fires. Broke my heart. I can’t stand to see things like that online.
XO
I almost went to Venice this year. Almost. Am putting it back on the agenda for next year. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 6 years since you went and did that “live” online course! When are you going???
The fires have been terrible, so much PTSD, how could there not be. Thank you for the video links. I retired last May and a month after that, we were all onboard that is hubby and The Boy who still lives with us, to blitz out the garage and yes I would say 95% of the stuff in there was sold in a yard sale. Mr. B. had worked as a UPS packer and driver and let me say that garage was packed like a UPS truck, organized but everything had to come out to get to the back. Now The Boy who pushed it uses it to work on his cars, but that’s OK because it is almost empty. A great light feeling. Now I’m bit by bit working on the house. I love the idea of a couple of months a year traveling. Wishing you the best.
love the visual of the garage packed up like a UPS truck. ha ha ha ha ha!!!! enjoy your retirement for me 🙂
It takes real bravery to go through all that old stuff and then get rid of it…eventually it becomes automatic to jettison, especially if there is a sense of feeling a bit stuck. The Gail Godwin quote is marvelous. The pic of your young students and your own self is equally so.
As always thank you for your cheerfulness
Why thank you NJP 🙂 Yes to getting the mud off one’s feathers and unsticking all the stuck parts!
Good luck on your down-sizing. I just finished the process, selling our four bedroom house and moving to a two bedroom condo. Some stuff is so easy to toss, but others not so much. But I finally focused on the end goal of being able to move into a smaller space and let go of lots of the sentimental stuff, knowing that the memories are with me forever. And I am enjoying the pay off immensely. I feel so free in the smaller space and not weighed down by years of, to quote MAM, “crapola”.
Yep. it’s the memories not the STUFF right? i keep telling myself that. so far so good. congrats on your smaller living and bigger sense of freedom
You are gorgeous in your old pic! You still have that face, of course. I’m glad you are alright, Mary Ann, despite the fires in California. It is such a tragedy, and very scary.
I am in the process of reorganized our abode, trying (yet again) to minimalize. Now that I’m into painting with gouache (thanks to you), that is the kind of art I want on my walls … along with some other people’s art. These are the only big plans we have right now.
Pachinko , is a great great book. I tried to read her previous book next and struggled. the main character is miserable to herself & others….it was too difficult.
I think all of new plans are going to truly illuminate new paths & adventures you can’t predict….which is mighty cool. we spent 15 weeks away from home base this year….next year will be less travel…we feel very lucky & wish to appreciate our local mtns & villages…. in 2019
just be prepared to purge again in a few years….we’ve moved 4 times in 16 years…..and we always find a taped box(es) from move #1
i really hate it when i read a fab book and the next book by the same author stinks. so disappointing …
regular purging – definitely!
Thanks for inspiration to get rid of stuff. I want to get rid of most but have a hard time getting rid of anything. Your post has given me a kick in the pants to get going. Hope your week off is splendid.
thanks taylor…i wish you much success in lightening your load. will feel GREAT when you’re done!
Looks like you’ll never grow old then, Mary Ann!
I love that Finishing School page you saved – I LOVE all of this post with its wisdom and humour.
I’m planning an adventure myself, if I’m chosen for the thing I’m applying for. The possibilities for adventure are endless, as you prove endlessly.
Oh! Hugh wants one of those teardrop campers! It’s a matter off fitting in two largish people and a smallish dog.
This post inspired me greatly. I had my 69th birthday last week on the 14th. I have declared the next year a Farewell to the 60’s year as I prepare to enter my 70’s. As I am planning how this year will look, I had not thought about doing a great purge. Thanks so much, that is so perfect. I am going to dedicate time to physical, mental, and spiritual purging. Oh joy, Oh joy. I will keep you posted.
happy birthday glenda :-)))
A year ago, I cleared out a ton of stuff in one half of my studio. Right after Christmas this year, I am going to do the same in the remaining half. It feels so good to let go of old stuff that is no longer of use or brings joy! And I do the same — take pictures of myself with some formerly beloved thing, then pitch the thing. It’s only the memory that’s precious. More power to you! Keep on pitchin’!
amen sister!
I’m going to find that Godwin book, find that quote, and put it on my blog. It is my mantra, and she says it so well. I am enjoying your purge reflections; I have done some of the same but am not as successful as you are on the sentimental claptrap stuff. But it’s important and I’m glad to see you progressing so well on it.
i’m anxious to have a cleaned out garage. it makes me a bit reckless…
If you haven’t already found this couple, I think you’d love their posts. I met the young man at a photography workshop when he was the assistant to the photographer. https://www.thelonglongairstream.com/the-build/2017/8/1/exterior-updates. There is also their first endeavor, The Democratic Travelers (you’ll have to google it, sorry).
THANK YOU xo
Sounds like my plans for approaching retirement , travel in a tiny trailer. I’ve found getting rid of things to be very difficult. I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t want to put things in landfill and I don’t think Goodwill will take all of it, I’ve given up on the idea of getting any money for anything, but it’s hard to just give up on things I’ve spent a long time accumulating. I do yearn for a freedom from too much stuff, though. I think I will be more ruthless when it comes time to move.
craigslist has a free section where you can list stuff ditto for that nextdoor app that all the neighbors use in my hood…
Sue, I was stuck with that kind of ‘stuff” incl a lot of art things that I’d collected for ‘some day’ until I came to the understanding that i did not want to do that kind of art. Photoshop is my friend but what about bags of say, dried teabags, or a couple years of the colored foil from Christmas candies???? I told the universe i needed an art teacher…and a few months later, my HomeOwnersAssoc advertised for grade school volunteers and I signed up. Voila!! a pre-k thru 5th grade art teach who squeals with joy as I bring in a grocery back of stuff each week. Toilet paper rolls included. I’d tried Craigs’list before but people would say they’d come and never show up yada yada yada
There is the right person for your stuff. Believe it and journal it. <— Thoughts from Kim Klassen in her Write Your Heart's Desire class. I am down to my personal souvenir papers – and will deal with them in 2019, bit by bit.
Loved Pachinko! The Gail Godwin quote really resonates even as I approach 80! Sounds like you’re on the right path, to me, MaryAnn! Keep trucking and thanks!!
hi ginny xo
Hey girl – I’ve been very worried about you with all the fire awfulness happening in California. What heartbreaking stories. I’m so glad you’re alright. I’m beginning to feel like the transition queen. Once I get past the sense of being unmoored, I’ll be able to make some plans. My Lessville Campaign had me getting rid of a lot of stuff, and I’m not through yet. I have an RV trailer and have to get rid of it. But I loved camping out in the woods near lakes. You could get one of those little teardrop campers! As always, your photos and observations are enchanting. Love you!
Awesome! You go!! ❤️
backatcha missus kitchell. a teardrop sounds lovely. i like watching bexcatherder on youtube in her scamp…she goes to the most beautiful places.