Most manly of man-things....

I've been clearing out our carriage house, but I have yet to figure out where the horses went. Today it's still called the carriage house but all we do is put stuff in it, because no car can get to it due to landscaping.  

This is the my fourth time getting to re-know items that are in there, since my husband passed on 11 years ago.  It was our intention to turn the 'garage' into a great shop where he could do his woodwork, make his half models of his boats he designed for clients, and fix stuff.  It didn't happen. 

First cleaning:  the big stuff, stashed in the rafters.   Those items were placed conveniently next door at the garage sale.  I said "Take it and the money you're getting for selling it!"  

I didn't know, or care to know, how a band saw sawed or how a drill press pressed.  The only thing I knew was how my iron pressed.  That was enough for me.  Buh-bye band saw and drill press.  

I put all Carl's office stuff into a storage unit.  It is amazing what you can store when you don't look at it, don't think about it, choose to ignore it, and just write a check monthly.   It was nearly two years later I decided to clear that storage unit out.  

Second cleaning.  I needed to create more space in the carriage house to bring stuff home.  Old paint, more tools, more boating stuff, two bikes.  Buh-bye! I didn't open the doors of the old freestanding cabinets because I didn't want to know what was in there.  Those stayed intact.

Then I got a call.  My friend (and client) Ken was willing to give to me a bunch of cabinets that they were getting rid of at his office.  He even had them delivered them to me.  I hired another friend and he hung them beautifully.  Had more space for more stuff.   

Third cleaning.  I recall tossing out the most manly of man-things...the mini-drawers.  You know what they are: men put all the bits and pieces they get from the hardware store into their own little box-let.  And then they go to the hardware store and buy the stuff all over again.  Then they have to buy more mini-drawers. It's a vicious cycle.

Last Saturday, I started on one side of the carriage house and slowly worked my way across to the other.  With other obligations (like work, paying bills, writing) I was able to squeeze two more half days in the dust pit.  Everything that was inside was now outside. 

It was sunny the first day...and I got a tan.  No, I did-ent.  It was sticky dust grime perfectly spread on my face. 

I called my landscaper and asked if he knew anyone that would want the tools: electrical stuff, wiring, axes, 8 hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, huge saws that came in a gun-like case (that was serious sawing).  I filled up 8 crates with tools.  

The unknown stuff that I had chosen to ignore, was now seen in the light of day.  Those were classic hand tools.  They went back into the shelves.  Everything that was out, was now in.  

However, there are two items that haven't been tossed:

Carl was and his crew was practicing before a start in a small boat, a Fireball.  Some guy had decided to float to Alcatraz Island in an inner tube and a pair of speedos, on a ebb (outbound towards the ocean) tide.  They hauled the blueish guy out of the water and got him to a crash boat who took him in to the beach.  And he just walked away in those speedos. The fleet gave him an award - the St. Francis 1st Place, Annual Aquatic Park to Alcatraz Inner Tube Race, 1978. 

The other item was a dented rib from a wing, that was given to me, when I hit a truck when landing a glider.  That's another story...that ended...okay.

Keep only what you love, get rid of the rest.  

Live richly,  marilyn