We both were raised in modest environments, Sharon in neat farm homes and me in a military officer’s abode where excesses simply did not exist. Notwithstanding her father who kept every nut and bolt and other pieces of stuff that you tend to accumulate in a machinery shed, if we didn’t need and use it, we didn’t own it.
We have scheduled the fabled three men and a truck to load out our furniture, my tool chests and outdoor cooking appliances. We need young muscle for those tasks although the move to a storage facility is a short one. We decided to move our “household goods” ourselves, the other stuff you collect over time. It is important to note that we lived at Truman Lake for ten years, collected quite an array of stuff and chose a reputable auction service to assist us when we left. In short we left with the clothes on our back and enough tools to fill a widow’s tool box. That my readers is the way to do it….start fresh with new stuff and roll on.
I asked Sharon as we lifted another carefully packed and labeled box into our storage facility if she believed we are hoarders. We agree that we must be. When we finally settle someplace, it will be after another glorious sale of the jetsom and flotsam we have collected in ten short years. We have stuff we have never used and lots of stuff we used once. The retail world loves us especially the outlets that sell clothes. Hundreds of pounds of clothes, some the result of a waistline that is anything but static, some impulse buys, some from our professional existence and a precious couple of items we wear regularly. It is no small wonder third world countries despise us.
I could provide detail to support our realization that we have crossed some line in the acquisition of stuff but it is embarrassing. One simple example of our full throttled consumer lifestyle is a huge box filled with bird feeders. Birds could care less what they eat out of as long as they eat. I am sure some of my feeders would attract a flock of Pterodactyls if they were still flying around. I am equally sure this concern is addressed in the hundreds of pounds of books from our library.
Suffice to say, this new realization has jolted us into reality. We are getting ready to live in a modest travel trailer which will be refreshing as the favorite shirt I always reach for is likely to be one of a precious few items in the wardrobe. We are about to find out what a modest living environment is all about. We are going to shake this self described hoarder lifestyle and learn to exist without the trappings of a runaway consumer. Wish us luck….and do not judge us harshly. Look around your own abode before you ridicule us, uh huh, just what I thought.
Have a great week!
SR
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