Spicy Dragons & Dinosaurs

Okay, so I did end the day yesterday feeling sorry for myself. And I did stay up too late yet again. But this morning I managed to get up, wash my hair, and get Julia off to school before going to the Apple store for a one-to-one tutorial. Then a stop at Staples for plastic storage boxes and home to sort photos.

So this may be the start of the anger part of the grieving process. Watch out!

I am making a trip out east in a few weeks and probably going to see cousins that I haven't seen in years. I have pictures from our shared grandparents and I thought I'd gather them, maybe burn a few discs for everyone, and give them all the pictures of their family that were in that stash. So, I tootled downstairs to the basement to find that box. As I was going through boxes, I realized that there are still many, many, many boxes of David's manuscripts. Each one filled with 20 or so manila envelopes labeled with the work title.

Oy.

I distinctly remember David announcing last year that he had gone through manuscript boxes and had reduced them by 6 boxes. He allowed me to believe that he had gotten the total down to a manageable number that would not burden our heirs when we passed to that better place. Well, the truth is -- dum-de-la-dum -- he had skimmed the icing on the cake. There are at least 10-15 boxes in one storage room, and I know there are another 5-8 in other parts of the basement. And that is not counting Schanker memorabilia. Urrrr. What do I do with this stuff?

So today I start. I am sorting pictures first -- and perhaps finding what I was looking for for my cousins, but no guarantees right now. I am purging negatives and doubles. Once I finish that -- and it might not be incredibly quickly, I will get to David's boxes. I guess I will try to save a version of everything; however, that leaves 5 or 6 versions that will go in the garbage or the fireplace. The man wrote.

Don't believe it is easy to throw any of it away. This was not supposed to be my job, I might rage!! But I want a simpler life.

At church yesterday, Michael quoted Gandhi as saying: "Simplify, simplify, simplify." Did Gandhi really say that? It sounds too much like: "location, location, location." Still, it is a good motto for this time. A good motto indeed.