Over
the weekend my P.E.O. chapter sponsored its annual rummage sale. This year I cleaned
out and donated more than I ever thought I would. If the item was taking up
space on a shelf and hadn’t been used for some years, I asked myself the
“Pickers” question: “Is this something you could part with, Kathy?”
I
still like new things. Life goes on, and I have realized that clinging to the
past weighs against my ability to move forward. So this year I parted with some
things I treasured, some things I still love. For instance, I donated the domed
cheese keeper and a bell-shaped plate from my Pfaltzgraff Christmas Heritage
collection. I had to admit that these odd-shaped items were never used and
taking up more than their fair share of the shelf. I was amply rewarded by the
delight of another Pfaltzgraff collector, someone who entertains during the
holidays and was overjoyed to have these pieces.
We
also donated a white wicker chair and end table. Mike said he couldn’t remember
when his family didn’t have them. I used them in the master bathroom and loved
the retro look, but Mike didn’t. He pointed out that they were old and in sad
shape, the paint chipping badly. “But people seek these things because they are
old,” I said. “If I take those to the rummage sale, they’ll be gone in a flash.”
"Are you serious?!” he questioned. And sure enough! They were gone first thing when
the sale opened on Saturday but to different buyers. After three quarters of a
century together, the table and chair have gone their separate ways.
Another
item I donated – an antique frame with convex glass. My mother had envisioned
using the frame for a certain old poster. “I just can’t figure out how to do
it,” she said, and as the years since her passing slip by, I realized if she
couldn’t figure out how to accomplish her idea, I certainly couldn’t, and yet I
was carefully preserving the glass in a precarious place on the shelf where I’d
rather keep my yarn and fabric stash. So the frame went to the rummage sale and
was carried off by a happy young woman. And for me – no more worries that I
will accidently break the glass while shoving boxes this way and that.
And
sometimes you can’t win for losing in your battle to reduce and the dissent
comes from unexpected places. Daughter Hallie, the minimalist, was examining
some photos of the rummage sale set-up that I forwarded to her. “Mom, are those
your wooden thread spools in that picture? You get those back! They don’t
make those any more.” And Mike agreed with her! So, the wooden spools are in
the box, ready to go back to the farm. KW
7 comments:
Don't you feel better about taking your unwanted items to the sale? So nice that the people who bought your stuff really wanted them.
Good for Hallie about the wooden spool alert. I have many myself. Didn't people make dolls from those spools many years ago?
Oh--a minimalist in part due to necessity. I must enjoy little things like wooden spools vicariously. :)
I have no regrets over parting with my former treasures, and it was a "win-win" that others wanted those things. I can hardly wait until it's Hallie's turn to deal with the wooden spools. And yes, I remember those dolls. I'm sure I could find the instructions online.
What really gets to me is the full set of crystal. Some folks say just to use it. Use it for what?
Who knew those wooden spools would suddenly disappear? Such a shame because the plastic ones are a total waste. Don't people know trees are America's renewable resource???
Crystal? I have glasses and wine glasses and I do use them for holidays and big family meals when everyone shows up. Oh, and Christmas Teas, etc. I love how they look on the table.
I think people don't trust forest management. They don't understand the industry. Certainly our venture into plastics has not been trouble-free.
Hmmm. Maybe I have the crystal at the wrong house. With a little adjustment I could store and use it at the farmhouse.
I can remember when wooden thread spools were the main component in making toy "tractors". A rubber band through the hole anchored on one end and a match stick on the other to wind, and, voila, instant toy. And if the ground was to loose to get traction, you carved 'treads' into the spool.
Or was that too long ago for anyone else to remember but Mike?
Richard - No one ever showed me that particular spool toy, but it does bring up our ingenuity in entertaining ourselves with what was available, which was a healthy thing.
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