Stuff......When is it time to reverse the flow

One of the unique distinctions of the "Baby Boomer" generation (for reference that's usually considered as people born between 1946 - 1964, but I am extending it even further to anyone born before 1946 who are at least on Facebook) and that distinction is our ability to gather "stuff".

It really didn't strike me as a generation thing until recently as Pattye has been charged with the responsibility of saving, disposing, delegating everything that belonged to her late aunt, Audrey. And now with the passing of her father, Clark Williams,  she along with her family members with be charged with sorting, saving, cataloging and trying to find a way to be sure everything is passed on or saved as well.

And then I started thinking, when is it time to start reversing the flow. When do I quit stopping at garage sales or "eyeballing" someone's trash laid out on the street for pickup. When do I quit accumulating and start divesting? Is it me, is it my generation or is it just wanting to collect "stuff" or probably more precisely junk. Yeah, right.. so much for the axiom "One man's treasure is another man's junk".

On my side of the balance sheet, I have years and years of stuff that I just couldn't pass up. Little storage cabinets that I found in an estate sale full of nuts and bolts left over from another man's junk. Rope, tools, cable, power tools, buckets, boards, coffee cans full of washers and more nuts and bolts. Poles, rods, funnels, motors, string, old paint, more paint, sandpaper etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on.We are only able to pull one car into the garage because of all of the accumulated "stuff". And if I could, I would probably fill up the other side if I was left unharnessed to gather even more.

Our house is full, almost bursting at the seams and yet we have moved several times and have gone through "down-sizing".

Years ago, Pattye became interested in collecting all kinds of decorative chickens and roosters, which perhaps, she recalled,  came mostly from visits to her grandmothers home. Later she started a retail outlet selling chicken-themed "stuff" and now she tells me she has over 100 chicken things in just the kitchen alone!. See, it's not just me.

Well......the bell has sounded. It's time to reverse the flow.

Instead of "stuff" coming in, it's stuff going out. So be prepared. Except first I do want to check out this garage sale down the street because I did see a sign that said, "Tools".

Is it generational?. Was it because we were raised by parents who were born during the Depression and treasured "stuff" and taught us to place value in even the smallest of things? I just don't know.

I'm tired from even thinking about the upcoming Spring Cleaning that we have promised ourselves to do. I will be heartbroken to dispose of that mason jar full of nuts and bolts that I bought for just pennies. And that broken saw that I really needed to have or that box full of tape or all of those washers and nuts and bolts. Oh and the fence slats that I was going to make picture frames from. Oh, and those pieces of garden hose that...um, well, I was going to do something with them.

I need a nap.