Saturday

A few weeks ago we finished the re-carpeting - there were still two rooms to do- - my studio and my office. I did not do these two rooms before Jim's surgery because I knew it would be a "big deal" - packing books and emptying all the studio cabinets. So I put it off and off and off until the carpet people called. They were tired of storing the rest of the carpet and were we ever going to have it installed.

If anyone is saying - that woman is crazy to carpet her studio - you might be right - except that four years ago - looking for better light - I moved my studio into what is/was the living room. Here is that story. Some things don't change.

Packing up the office and studio did not disappoint me - it was a BIG deal and we stumbled around boxes for weeks afterwards as I prepared myself to put it all back. Well, I did the office first. Yesterday I started opening boxes and putting things back in my studio.

Why is it that things go IN boxes so much easier than they come OUT?


One reason it takes longer to put stuff back is sorting - hoping to get rid of stuff.
And in this case, besides the big things, it means
fingering bits of papers I have saved thinking they will be part of a collage.
Or twisting bits of string into a new ball
Or smoothing and folding odd bits of fabrics.
Or flipping through old photos.
Or browsing books I had forgotten.
Even finding a box of sand from the Holy Land. No, I cannot throw that away yet.

And it means finding lost treasures
little gems in a a small sketchbook from years ago
still-wrapped storyteller cds we bought last year at the National Storytelling Festival
old magazines with new possibilities






















And a "lost" family picture that Jim's mother kept.

Jim's mother was also an archivist - a "keeper." When Loretta died Ila gave us a large manilla envelope with letters, postcards and picture we had sent to Loretta over the years.

I know this picture is from the mid-seventies by the clothes and hair styles. Since its a studio picture I imagine we gathered because there was a "passage" or a "first" as I have always wanted to mark those. My guess is it was taken around the time of Jimmy's graduation from St John's High School




Jim marvels that my putting away takes so long
that the throw away pile is so small

I am more surprised by how long I have had some of these things
By how fast the time has slipped by
And by how each item carries so many memories
How they can put me right back where I was when I touched them first.

I guess the better question is
do I need two of everything?