D-Day Eve

Ah, spring...the sun is shining, the birds are singing, not a cloud in the sky...ok, none of that is true. Well, the birds are singing but the rest is just all lies. BUT it's a great day here at the compound because tomorrow is DUMPSTER DAY!!! That's right, the day Sparky and I have been anticipating all year is finally here! Tomorrow we get a big, ugly 30-yard rolloff container plopped right in the middle of the back yard. We are just beside ourselves with glee, knowing that finally the big purge can begin in earnest!

The amount of utter crap that a family can accumulate is something you probably don't think about until you have to move. Or, failing that, until it reaches proportions almost suitable for its own reality show...or it's own zip code. What we have here at the compound has an unsettling similarity to "Sanford and Son" in places. But that all changes, starting tomorrow.

I don't know why Crash always had such an aversion to throwing things away. Good things, junky things, useful things, broken things, they're all here. I find myself thinking twice before getting rid of stuff, and I blame Crash for that. Do I really want to get rid of this? Has it outlived ALL possible usefulness? Could someone else use it? Could it be fixed? What if I need it at some point? Has it got parts that can be used to fix something else? You can drive yourself crazy with that thought process. And sooner or later, you accumulate SO much stuff that if there is something there that you need, you'll just never be able to find it. It reaches a point where you just have to let it go.

For whatever reason, Crash just never reached that point. In fact Preston told me that one day my dad gestured to all the...stuff in the back yard (see the previous post for a sample) and said, "some day this will all be yours" and then cackled ominously. I think in later years, the thought of dealing with any of it just got to be too overwhelming for him, even if he wanted to deal with it. I know I find it overwhelming. But every day Sparky has to look out the back window and see anything other than birds, chimpunks, and my dog, is a shame.

Let the purge begin!!