The Day The Jeep Died...

...and Other Memories of Long Ago.....

It was a day of getting things done; I had a list of errands to run and I had promised myself, inspired by others who are trying to declutter, that I would also gather some items to take to our Salvation Army Thrift Store. 

That task in this house is overwhelming...but I decided to limit myself to the laundry room, the haven for all things without a home...I filled two boxes which was a start - but it made only a dent - an unnoticeable dent.  What was staring me in the face was a wall of old photo albums...You know, those binders with sticky pages and clear page covers where, in the olden days, we used to put our printed photos...?  Remember? Actual photos? Albums? 

I have known for years that I have to do something about all those albums. They are bulky, heavy, take up way too much space and if (make that when)  I have to move out of this house, I will not be able to take them with me! But they are full of memories - memories from so many wonderful years of my life - and especially my more adventurous years..the ones I will want to keep to remind me that I made the most of my youth and good health when I had it!  So, the task in front of me was to weed out the photos, do away with the actual binders and find a way to preserve them for easy viewing when I am old and wanting to remember the good old days!  Why not get started doing that - with the weeding part? 

Well..I should have known...once I opened one of those old albums, I was gone for the day - totally sucked in. Down the rabbit hole I went ....There were memories on every page...my first solo camping summer in the American southwest..the day my Jeep died in Moab Utah..the day the Jeep dealership in Colorado smashed my mountain bike getting the vehicle into the shop..ten days waiting for a new transmission and a new frame for my bike - it was a Gary Fisher bike and it had to be ordered in from California!  The dealership refused to pay so I had to hire a lawyer..oh the memories!  And all my favourite places, the canyons, the desert, and mountains ..all in front of me in living colour.. the friends I made along the way ...and that was only the first album!  I did not emerge until dinner time...Maggie's dinner time that is. One cannot ignore the howls of a hungry cat not matter what rabbit hole you are down! 

Unfortunately, not a single page of an album was harmed today...they are all still intact..but the task has been moved up almost to the top of my Unfinished Projects to be Finished  list..at least that's a start....