Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Day four excavating the snow storm of December 2009

The sun was back today and still cold, but the difference was to start excavating instead of walking outside.

I've spent months digging through lumber, wall boards, boxes, trash, donations, and memories. There is still more to do, so get to it.

Up the 13 steps to withdraw 6 file cabinets and four trunks. One by one they dragged down the steps and were placed in the living room.

Having broken into a good sweat, I decided now was a time for a walk before digging deeper.

The main roads are drying out, but the mounds of graying ice slowly drip in this bright sun. The traffic is light and the road is not slippery so I make a good pace.

Home again and time to get down to more digging. Christmas music fills the room as drawer by drawer offers new fines. So many photos of cats and their leaches and food and medical records spill onto the floor. Snapshots of every pose and look of over two dozen animals who graced these walls.

And in every excavation, some things must go and some things will be examined and reviewed. A few appear to be treasures, but most turns to be trash and I fill plastic bag after bag. And every page must be read in search of details or personal information.

After so many years, I find photos of a previous life. Baby pictures, yearbook clips, and a few snapshots from a former life, I pile these into a stack. I decide to file these pictures and review at a later date.

And the excavating goes on, but instead of a vague history, I find thoughts and wishes of a person I lived with longer than anyone else on this planet.

So take a breath tomorrow and keep digging.

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