Clean Out the Garage

For years, my mother has been talking about a project she wanted (us) to do. She wanted to clean out the garage.

Last Saturday was the day circled on the calendar. She ordered one of those dumpsters for the driveway. And Saturday morning, we all showed up to fill it up. 

The dumpster team included me, my wife and daughter, my sister and her two girls. 

At first, we did the brute labor needed to get a couple of chairs, a couple concrete blocks and other heavy items loaded and on to the base of the unit. Then, we did the more tedious task of going through boxes. We sorted the contents into:

1. keep
2. pitch
3. recycle 
4. shred

Full disclosure: many of my friends know that my dad passed away back in the winter. But because it happened before I re-started the blog, I haven't really covered the news here. 

Embry D. "Nick" Gary, 93, passed away February 9 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's.

So, part of the work we wound up doing Saturday was to find things he put in odd places (a full mustard bottle, for instance) and un-do them. But, also, we went through copious files he put together throughout the years. As I noted in his eulogy, he was a modern renaissance man: an accomplished mechanical engineer, a brilliant artist, a talented woodworker and a successful auto mechanic.

And boy what notes he kept - handwritten in his distinctive, precise script. 

• A detailed list of all his paintings, who bought them and when they sold
• A spreadsheet listing all of the items he bought and sold via eBay
• Records of oil changes and brake jobs, among other auto maintenance

Dad also studied to become a private pilot during the late 1970s. I think he wound up flying five or so years before giving up the hobby. One of the boxes contained notes he took during a class to prepare for the written exam.

But as nostalgic as it was to review such personal history, there was little reason to keep notes about car repairs for vehicles no longer in the family. I did hold on to the flight info and my sister took some other keepsakes.

After a few hours of labor, we hit the proverbial wall. And, truly, we had done the hard task. The dumpster was about two-thirds full. Since he had fully stuffed my mom's recycle bin, many of the remaining recyclables will have to wait until the next round. Otherwise, we'll take the paint and chemicals to the city's household hazardous waste dispoal facility downtown. 

Another project, slated for fall, is to clean out the shed in her back yard. I took one look inside and decided that, yes, it could NOT be tacked on to the day's actvities. Too much work; too little remaining energy.

For one day, however, we all felt good about our efforts. My mother enjoyed how much better her garage looks (and how much storage space she now has).

And, as we worked our way through boxes and files, we remembered and paid tribute to a good man.

JG