Moving on to a different life

I threw away all my seminary notes (except my favorite Systematic Theology) today. I culled the books I had stored in the garage and am recycling a lot of fiction that I thought was irreplaceable - it no longer interests me. I did save all my Jules Verne books - not that they're valuable, but they mean something to me. I remember reading them when I was very young.

I did save all those folders marked "personal" or "pretties" or "humor" because the pieces of paper in them were too many and too small to sort while sitting in the garage. That's half of a small plastic tub. The very large laundry basket is filled to overflowing with paper to be recycled. I saved the folders so that I can put them on FreeCycle.


And, now there are two more filing cabinets full of my files and notes from seminary. I'm going to need lots of recycling bins...actually we have to take this kind of stuff to the recycle center; so I usually put it in paper grocery bags. But, I have three large plastic tubs ready for things that need to be stored in them instead of in paper boxes. And, I found my great-grandmother's wedding ring quilt. It's pink predominantly; so I don't use it. I don't much care for pink - unless it's a very bright hot pink. This isn't. Perhaps I'll give it to the cousins when they visit next week.

Also found the coverlet that Grandmother Moreland made from sheep they grew, wool they carded and spun, and then they weaved the coverlet. That's one reason I want to learn weaving - and I can do that where I work now. I'm so excited about it. However, I'll probably do more Guatemalan looking weavings than the traditional blue/cream of Grandmother Moreland - the prim old woman who let me comb her long white hair when I was only four or five. And, her brothers called her Nannie. Can you imagine? A 90 year old woman called Nannie? So, when I'm 90, I want y'all to call me Margi, okay?

And, although my hair is white, it won't be long enough to comb - short and curly. But, someday I'll pass along "Nannie's" small cedar chest - just big enough for jewelry to one of her great, great granddaughters.

Too many boxes in the garage are still marked as my "Junk". As you can see one is marked "Childhood Useless Junk". I'm not touching that box this go-round. That's for another day. And, if you can figure out everything on the other tub, I'll know what's in it. Otherwise, I guess that it is bandanas and scarves - on a day when I couldn't spell.


(Update at 5 pm: I went back and finished the two filing cabinets this afternoon. And, Yogi, I found our college annual! LOL Plus I have another laundry basket of recycle paper.)

But, the significance of all this cleaning out is that I feel myself shifting from being the seminary graduate/lay minister to being something new and different. I won't need the commentaries and the notes. I'll need different equipment and preparation. Although I'm not certain I'll be doing in this new life, I know it will be different from the past ones. What fun! A new discovery!

So, come along with me, the best is yet to be!