Life is basically....

...a series of unrelated events connected by memories, experiences and family.

When we bought a new refrigerator many years ago, we quickly learned that magnets don't work on stainless steel. I had become attached to the random snapshots, if not necessarily the reminders, lists, advertisements and kids' art masterpieces that covered the surface of the old one, so I made a bulletin board out of old wine corks and plywood and hung it on the wall in the kitchen. It seemed the perfect substitute for the refrigerator...and less messy. Pleased with the layered memories created by both the snapshots and the corks, I continued to add and subtract, arrange and rearrange the pictures. Sometimes there would be a theme, of sorts (hint: there are a lot of weddings). Sometimes I stuck a picture up there just because I liked it. I generally tended to avoid the art masterpieces because they tended to proliferate so fast, putting them into folders instead. (Although if you are an acute observer, you might have spotted the two flowers drawn and cut out by Lola, our house guest of last summer.)

When we moved, I couldn't bear to leave the bulletin board behind, so my brother and I ripped it off the wall, taking with it large hunks of plaster and, paradoxically, leaving big globs of glue and wrapped it in newspaper. We left it to the painters and stagers to figure out what to do with the unsightly mess we had created.

In Santa Rosa, it became obvious that there was no place to put such a large piece of warped plywood. The pictures were faded and curling. A few of the corks had fallen off, and there was a light switch-sized hole which once went around--a light switch. It was purpose built for a particular spot which didn't exist in this house. (and we still have a stainless steel refrigerator) I reluctantly decided to take a picture of it, dismantle the whole thing and move it out of the garage where it had been leaning against the wall, making it difficult to get out of the car.

As I removed the tacks holding down the pictures, I mused about the fact that the events represented, were just thumbnails. What made them important were the memories, the relationships and the love of family and friends that bound them together. Once I had removed everything, I quickly found a place for the bulletin board in the laundry room, where it will probably hold shopping lists, coupons, notes and reminders.

OilMan commented the other day that I needed to change my moniker from Berkeleyblipper, but to quote an acquaintance, "There will always be some Berkeley in you." So for the moment, I think I'll stick with Berkrleyblipper.