Chain Reaction

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Shoot! There’s just enough new snow on the ground to make tough work of dragging a couple of heavy trash cans to the curb. That’ll be a must, for tomorrow’s takeaway truck will arrive early in my neighborhood.

I blame my heavy trash on throwaways. That’s because I had my home’s entire floor coverings changed.

This changeover forced moving everything inside the house, and twice. First, moving furniture, bookcases, and old scrapbooks and filling cabinets, art supplies, and electronics, from their original spots. Second, moving and arranging items into their original or new spaces. It’s been an unending process of deciding what I cannot live without and what I can let go of.

It’s a no-brainer, electing to toss something that for years has been unneeded and stored away. And there’s the surprise of discovering items forgotten completely. Nonetheless, tossing isn’t easy. I’ve had to be more disciplined, making tomorrow’s trash extra heavy.

Today’s new challenge, of dragging heavy receptacles through snow, is poetic justice. It’s been painful to throw away items with memories attached or having monetary value. I can’t rid myself of a nagging worry, that the odds favor my needing at least a few of those things again someday.

Dear Friends: The problem with making changes is that one change nearly always forces others. Diana