Closets, Coats and Cameras

Since my dad passed away in February, my mom has been on a kick to clean things out.

Among my dad's many attributes, it seems he was a bit of a pack-rat.

Anyway, as I reported back in the spring, we spent a day cleaning out the garage and filling one of those roll-away dumpsters. Then, again, in the summer, we went through a closet and got items to donate to charity. 

On Saturday, we're doing to do Round 3. It's a bit of a mish-mesh of some things from their back porch and garage and, if there is room on the truck (there likely will be), my sister will contribute some items. This load is all bound for the dump. 

Earlier this week, I spent some time getting ready for Saturday. 

First, we went through my folks' hall closet and stuffed two large trash bags full of coats (his and her's). I took them to a local dry cleaner for donation to the annual "Coats for the Cold" charity drive. It felt really good knowing some coats that have just been hanging, idly, in their closet for some time might benefit someone who is in need. 

Mom felt good about it, too.

I noticed on the shelves of this closet some of their old camera equipment, including an old Kodak camera.

That came into play, a bit later, as I went back to the garage and was sorting some boxes to go on the load Saturday. These were things we missed when we did Round One back in the spring.

In one of the boxes, I found some more paperwork that will go to the shred bin. And, in another one of the boxes, I found an odd mix of old photographs.

There's no real rhyme or reason to the pix. There were all just thrown, randomly, in one box. Some of them seem to have been taken with the old Kodak; others are more recent. In any case, I put them aside for us all to review on Saturday. It's possible someone might want some (or all) for their collection.

I also found a child's drawing and a children's book in the same random box. I put those aside as well.

Before we start to work on Saturday, we plan to meet for breakfast and I'm sure the books and pix will be a topic of conversation.

Another topic of conversation, I'm sure, will be the shed in their back yard. It needs a lot of work, to be sure. But that's another project for another time.

JG