The junk drawer is every household's treasure trove. There is never the 'right time' to clean one out as it is a sacred place for the 'might need that some day,' 'this is still usable,' and other potentially important trinkets, mementos and stuff. It is the perfect repository for anything and everything, like the keys that don't open anything. It is the 'go to' place when you need an odd electric plug, screw driver, picture hook or rubber band.
I just cannot sit here twiddling my thumbs as I watch "Sunday Morning" (a favorite television show) with its magazine' style short stories. Surely, I can clean one junk drawer in 90 minutes - can't I?
As I begin sorting stuff, I listen to the history of Antietam, the Civil War battle, September 17, 1862: death, cemeteries. I'm finding those little packets of flower food that arrive with floral bouquets. Do I put them in the pile to keep, stow elsewhere or throw away? If I didn't use them when those cut flowers were alive, why would I keep them now? I'll put them in the 'keep' pile - just in case... but the empty purse-size hand sanitizer goes in the trash - definitely.
The pile of 'stow elsewhere' is growing with a package of razor blades, several snap clothes pins, a deck of cards and a ball of twine - as I learn about a "polka dot" artist from China. I found US postage stamps that are probably still good - but when will I need 39-cent stamps? Here's an artistic treasure: 18" of chain link from a 1970s swag lamp that no longer exists.
What a surprise! I found a favorite pair of sunglasses that went missing about 2008. I'm going to keep the envelopes of flower seeds till spring - and the loose coins, too. "Sunday Morning" is reviewing the lives of rock and singing groups with nostalgic music memories as I ink-test a bundle of pens; half are old and dry. There is a gracious and lovely letter received from a dear neighbor, now deceased. I think I'll put it in my box of memorial cards, along with Puddles' dog tags (she was our pet many years ago). How did these things end up in a junk drawer?
I will definitely dispose of the $17 in the bank envelope. I am thinking brunch: corned beef hash with two eggs over easy and biscuits with gravy. My (now neat) junk drawer contained even more treasures than I expected as "Sunday Morning" fades to commercials.
When is the last time you cleaned your junk drawer?
What treasures did you discover? I'd like to know.
Nancy yTe \
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