For sale.... at auction......

The midnight sky in spring holds some kind of power over some of us... It may be the cut of the stars glittering through the navy cloak...dusky, colorless clouds skittering by as if they think they are getting away with something... or the leaves left by winter's dark deep-freeze suddenly scudding by the windows, catching the light... Missouri winds have been fierce this week, banging at the doors to be let inside... and so my spirit has been swept, and I am moody, tired, sleepy and thoughtful.

And I'm thinking about all the "stuff" my mother and I have accumulated. While she is still (at 83) in the "better save this for 'company' or later" mode, I am in the "Time is so short; we need to enjoy whatever we have." mind-set... I recall the stacks of freshly laundered linens at my grandmother's sale... Mother insisted we wash every dish until it sparkled and iron every item we sold. ... Some of my grandmother's pretty things were visible to me only on that day we sold them. I had the opportunity to take whatever I wanted, and I did take so very much that my home is bursting at the seams... Simplify, the signs scream it at us these days.

I want to simplify somehow, to concentrate, to live a beautiful life and use up my stuff before I die. I don't want my red beverage jar used for the first time by whoever buys it at my auction, no matter when that date shall be. For all this stuff will be eventually sold or broken or done away with. I see no need for scrimping and doing without when the treasure lies inside my very own cupboards... I believe we were raised on too many ants and grasshopper stories, listened to the depression scares too much. If we have another Great Depression, instead of so many grand individual depressions inside our own psyches... we won't be yearning for the packed away doilies and good china. We will be aching for food supplies and gas ration cards anyway.

The time is two a.m. Tomorrow will be another day at school, another day here at Mom's, another opportunity to seize the day... Carpe Diem....

Have a good week.