Into the Depths

I need a checklist to stay organized these days. It’s warm outside, and the list of what needs to be done before fall is long, like the basement clean-out. It’s enough to get the hormones racing with rapture. Of course I lie.

The basement somehow avoided purging during the other household cleanouts – the attic, the back rooms, various bedrooms – after you’ve had four kids and pets, the amount of stuff that piles up is huge. “Ohhhhh, that’s too good to toss, we’ll just put it in the basement till we know what to do with it.” Well, time marched on, and three years later, it’s still there with a dozen other “it’s too good to be tossed.”

Romping Through the Swamp

So this summer I am “swamping out” the basement. Sometimes I feel a bit like a fisherman who tosses his line and hook in and pulls out a shoe. “What the F*^% is this!” often rings out. There are many cries of frustration and anger.

My thought process on all of this? If I have to repeat this in a year or so, I’ll have wasted a huge amount of time and labor. I hate wasting time. So I am thinking hard about how to prevent a recurrence.

Let’s see:

• A writ -in large type on the basement door on the penalties for dumping in the basement.
• My usual growling pronouncement on what’d going to happen if I find junk in the basement. But louder!
• Reconfiguring space in the basement so there are few horizontal spots to put stuff on.
• Making myself obnoxious to the point that people stop dumping because of the verbal abuse they’d take.

So this is a work in progress. If I succeed, I might get back to my shop and finish the two commissions I have to start on, complete the current ship portrait of the clipper ship Dreadnaught, or finish the batch of spoons I’m halfway done with.

And no, the shop is just fine with all its clutter and mess. How dare you suggest it needs cleaning!