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Clearing out

 Putting books  into cartons is easy.  Clearing out drawers that are full of bits is an irritating, time consuming nightmare.  I don't usually stay this long in one house so I don't normally accumulate much, but 10 years is a long time.  You know what it's like.  Where do spare batteries belong?  Open a drawer and shove them in, until you find that in one drawer are spare shoelaces, band-aids, aspirin, so out of date they would probably give you a headache rather than curing one.  Add to that, a book-mark - no make that 3 bookmarks - a memory stick, a whisky flask, a camera, assorted pens, paper clips, an old telephone and a penknife I confiscated from one of my sons when they were teenagers.  They are now in their fifties.  And it's not just one drawer.  There is one in the kitchen, one in the dining room, bedside table and oh yes I have just found a plastic box full of odd electrical items, computer cables and the like, things whose purpose was probably beyond my comprehension in the first place.

So as I pick up each item the same question raises its ugly head.  Do I need it?  If so which carton  do I pack it in?  What do I call this carton?  Miscellaneous?  Odds and ends?  Life is just too short.  I separated the items to be recycled and dumped the rest in the bin.  There, that makes me feel much better and I have an empty drawer.  I turn to go, to tackle another task but I hesitate.  Maybe I'll just keep the penknife.

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