Cleaning Out The Garage
“Schedule dumpster for 9/26.” A project that I had assigned myself back in August, the dumpster didn’t actually get dropped in my driveway until November 4th. My cousin Myra’s passing, EO Columbus’ big Momentum event was coming up…a number of things in my life forced me to continue delaying this project. But it got done this week.
The dumpster was scheduled to be dropped on Friday, but it somehow appeared on Tuesday, mid-day when Lori and I returned home from visiting Rosie for one of our “train the owner” sessions at Joel Slavin’s Dog Lodge. I left soon thereafter for the EO event, which consumed the rest of my Tuesday.
I was working on my laptop in the back room on Wednesday morning, and thought I heard a cat meowing. Unsure whether it was actually an odd bird calling out, I ignored it for a while. But eventually a sufficiently clear “meow” reached my ears, and it dawned on me: “Oh, there must be a cat in the dumpster.” So I slid on some shoes and went outside to investigate. There in the bottom of an empty dumpster sat two little kittens. SO cute. It was chilly, and they were small and certainly hungry. So Lori and I relocated Rosie’s crate into our basement and then I climbed into the dumpster to capture them. By some miracle of Facebook finding the right people at the right time, these two little scalawags were adopted before sundown. Because they were willing and able to take the kittens, I made a $100 donation to Whiskers Animal Rescue out of gratitude even though we found a home for the kittens ourselves. What a service it is, to take in abandoned pets. Lori and I were not really in a position to care for these kittens for the long-term. It was a relief knowing that if our own efforts to find them a home fell through that Whiskers would be the caretaker of last resort. Lori and I spent the last couple of daylight hours on Wednesday starting the process of pitching things into the dumpster.
Thursday and Friday kind of came and went for me, though Lori was able to clean and organize portions of our basement (thus making room to accommodate some stuff from the garage). Saturday was Go Time. Lori was off on a half-day hike and Rosie had returned home from her obedience training on Thursday. So I attached Rosie to a lead in our front yard and got to work. By 3pm or so, the garage was devoid of everything. The cobwebs had been knocked down, the floor swept and finally the entire space received a gusty refresh courtesy of my backpack leaf blower. Tabula Rasa.
It was not convenient. It was not fun. In the end, it was satisfying. Cathartic, also. The stuff in the garage had been levying a tax on me for a long time. It’s probably been nine years since I parked a car in that garage. Too cheap to rent a storage unit, too scared to say goodbye to some of the items in there, the garage was charging interest on my inability to process these belongings, and the memories tied to some of them. The table that my parents had refinished. The Maamos Kitchen illuminated sign. My mom’s little PVC-framed greenhouse.
As the rain drops hit my roof here this Sunday morning, I’m so glad that I leaned into this work yesterday. I would have been miserable doing it today. We own things, but these things own us, too. We have to maintain them, use them, or they just gather dust and eventually become useless to anyone. Somehow we improvised around all of the curveballs that arose this week and got it done. When the snow flies in a few weeks, I will be so glad that our cars are sheltered in the garage.
Sunday Supper
This Ginger Chicken & Rice w/ Zucchini soup will warm you up on this wet, cool day. I’m starting to think about the Thanksgiving meal. Once again I think I’m going to lean on Ray Ray’s for the protein - their smoked turkey breast and smoked pit ham are so good that I just can’t bring myself to consume precious oven time and space to take this on myself. Instead, I’m focusing on making a lot of great side items. Christina Tosi’s Corn Bake looks great, as does this Red Cabbage with Walnuts & Feta. Rather than creamed spinach, how about Creamed Kale? This French Onion Soup Tarte Tartin looks very interesting. Instead of mashed potatoes I’m (gasp) flirting with the idea of prepping a Potato Pavé ahead of time, then browning it off on Thanksgiving. Hopefully this sparks some holiday meal ideas for you.
Sunday Music
When the Doobie Brothers visit NPR’s Tiny Desk, we listen. Emily King brings an entirely different (and beautiful) performance to the same space. To wrap things up this week, I share with you Jazzbois playing a recent set in Montreal. Enjoy!
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Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,