Wow! What a day! I'd call it productive. I fear, though, that the soreness in my back will persist into tomorrow. I cleared a large shelving unit in the guest bedroom today and found many things -- some of which I was sure I had dealt with years ago. <sigh>. I filled five bags with paper recycling and another with garbage. Those bags will head to the curb next week where they will join the other three or four bags completed in the past week.
Much of the paper was from jobs before I retired. I knew that much of my doctoral dissertation files were part of this group of boxes. I got rid of all but a couple of sheets that I chose to keep for posterity. I was shocked when I found drafts and committee meeting notes from my masters thesis. I felt confident that I had dealt with all of that before moving east almost 24 years ago! But this one box seemed to have been missed. Now, I've spoken with and heard about other people who have kept their dissertation drafts and raw data -- some even longer than me <grin>. I found these vignettes particularly heartening, since I felt bad that I was still hanging onto these papers. Given the immense amount of work and emotional investment involved in a doctoral degree program, I can understand why folks hang onto the physical vestiges of those triumphs and pains. I do have a bound copy of the thesis, so don't really need anything further now. So, all of that material now rests peacefully in blue bags.
I now have plans for items from other piles that I've tackled, to move to this clearer shelving unit. It will take some getting used to finding things there instead of in a stack somewhere. I'm sure I'll get used to that, though. I do like finding floor space where a stack of papers used to be <smile>. The furry one is investigating these newly appeared areas of tile that weren't there before. It reminded me of explorers looking for new ways to get somewhere. A song by a wonderful Canadian singer-songwriter came to mind to share here tonight. I feel like one of those explorers these days as I make my way through the wild areas of the house. <grin> Keep safe. Enjoy!
Northwest Passage -- Stan Rogers
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