Collecting Dust
- Lisa Vaught
- Jul 19, 2015
- 5 min read
Collecting Dust...
What do you have a lot of ?
7-18-15
Hello!
I was thinking about what it takes to make each of us content with my clothes. As my helper, Frax has a fur suit, he tends towards the classic, uncluttered short fur coat. Stylish always, he doesn't understand people's preoccupation with clothing. He does however feel that 'portable fur' that human's wear is a good thing, they resemble skinned animals without, and are spooky.
What got us on this track today. Folding clothes. I took it upon myself to clean out the closet and the clothes holder. My reasons are simple. I've lost 100 lb in the past two years, and my husband finally said the one sentence we all adore as women: “go get yourself some clothes that fit!” Happy dance!
We've already made dozens of trips this spring to deposit boxes and boxes of unused things and clothes to streamline our lives. I've gotten rid of boxes of everyday clothing. Now we are down to the good stuff and I pause. If I did gain weight I would sit around kicking myself for giving it away. It's not so much, two small boxes of nice dresses, shirts, slacks that type of thing. They will go to the back of the closet and not take up much space at all. Since I love vintage style, some heavy chick in the future will hit the mother-load!
I realized however, as I cleaned my husband's sock drawer that Houston, we have a problem. The man just doesn't have some socks...he has SOCKS. When Jet was with us, he loved to present us with a sock when he could...for like red roses, to Jet at least, socks were love! Just if he decided that socks were also edible, I kept a close eye on them! But I never in my wildest dreams guessed how many socks Bill actually has: Thorlo walking socks are the heaviest represented, however~ prestigious hiking and snow-booting socks, socks that would make walking up the great Himalaya's much more comfortable, socks for sledding down Mount Washington...a LOT of outdoorsy socks! Then there are the 'professional socks'...blue socks, black socks, soft socks, not so soft socks, socks of gray, and marled socks.
When I finished with socks...then there were gloves: biking gloves, anti-vibration gloves for heavy equipment, gloves for attacking the South Pole, gloves for making snowballs or perhaps fixing a broken car by the side of the road. Gloves of leather, gloves of pleather, of knit and Thinsilate, gloves with the tips intentionally cut out for better grip while fixing manly things, gloves made of new fibers I would never be able to explain or describe.
Bill has his hands and feet covered. Literally. I've carefully folded every last single one of 'em, and he will have to decide which he is comfortable parting with...if any. I must have done a good eagle's eye with Jet, for astonishingly...every single sock and every single glove are perfectly matched!
Not so for me. If I can find a sock I'm doing well. Two socks that match~ I'm golden! I did the happy dance when finally, mercifully fashion decided in it's all-knowing, all-seeing way that panty hose were passe'. Thank God! Whomever the malignant spirit that thought up panty hose is...well, I hope he or she has to wear their nasty invention the rest of their lives!
Silk stockings aren't even in the same category as panty hose! That is akin to comparing a Roles Royce silver shadow to a Yugo! Passed out of fashion, silk stockings are for weddings and very special occasions. Few of us will wear them more than once or twice nowadays, and if we do they are so fragile that seldom do they make it back safely in one piece to a drawer. I'm not sure if silk is just more
fragile these days, or if they wove silk to last better back in the olden days.
My gloves....fugetabout it! I was astonished and amazed to actually find three matched pairs of my gloves during the cleaning frenzy! I have a few forlorn hold-outs in the back of our closet~ too good to throw out, waiting in vain for the mate that I carelessly lost. Jet with all his sock finding prowess, and Frax as well have never been able to discover the lost gloves of mine.
Last year I finally sucked it up and got rid of my beautiful shoes I had accumulated over a lifetime. I always have bought good things, then took care of them. I'd rather have one great set of timeless footwear than a dozen knockoffs that fall apart the first time they're worn. Every one of my shoes were on deep-discount sale and carefully brought home as the treasure they were! Leather shoes instead of fake...that type of thing. I would rather take a leather purse in to fix the handle, than toss it out.
Many of the shoes are way too wide and way to high a heel for me ever to walk in again~ and yes, you lose weight in your feet! Even the ones that I can still wear I cannot, the heels aren't doable with my irregular gait and mobility issues.
When finished I had two pair of moccasins and a rough-looking pair of sneakers that had seen better days. Frax thought nothing of it, having portable pup shoes attached to his voluminous feet! He and I are looking for some real work shoes made of leather for him. The only person I can find that makes them now doesn't do large sizes, he only makes the dog shoes all the same size~medium! Seems he is locking himself out of the market. Apparently however, he doesn't cut the shoes himself~ a machine does it, and it's too expensive for him to buy a part to make the shoes bigger...hmmm.
That was a disappointment. The 'design' if you will, of the doggie shoes are based on an ancient aboriginal style. It's precise, simple and neat. I have two pair of too big leather shoes that I may just tear up and see if I can replicate those neat doggie shoes. I'll need some help from Bill, but I've done crazier things!
So...what is it in your life that you go to the store and realize...”omg I've bought yet another one of those!” Everyone does this. My aunt who died way back in the 80's collected toilet paper and prunes. Lots and lots of them. Everyone in the immediate family and friends too had plenty of toilet paper and prunes if they desired them for the foreseeable future after we cleaned auntie's house. Obviously she was a fan of personal hygiene and regularity, both admirable qualities that Jet and Frax aspire to as well.
I'm finishing off the last drawer, boring, jeans and more jeans for Bill. The ones that won't fit go into the closet that has an awful lot more room these days.
We tend as people to attach ourselves so deeply to things. When it's gone and all said, that's all they are. Things. Even good 'ol King Tut with all his glory couldn't take it with him.
I'm learning the best things to collect:
Friends. They take up little space, but they fill up your heart.
Really good books. Once again, they fill the heart, soul and mind with wonders beyond the imagination.
Love. The love of a good man, who has stuck beside me through thick and thin (quite literally!).
Family that care for me regardless if I'm sick or not.
Lastly: the wonderment of my helper in his fur suit. Yes, Frax takes up a bit more space, but how can you measure the love and security that my canine helpers in fur suits have provided me over the years?
None of these 'things' takes up physical space It's only the spaces in my heart and soul that are full to overflowing. Funny things though about those type of spaces. They are very flexible and can fill infinitely, whereas our homes and closets cannot!
Later...
LV, FX & JT
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