Findings

It's when you unpack that you begin to realize what's important to you. Box after box can be separated into things you just threw in versus things you cared for.

A box full of knickknacks that I really have no place for. Some are nice. Decorative in the right settings. Others now seem on the verge of tacky. What was I thinking, two years back when I tossed them into this box. I take two boxes and separate things into "junk" and "keep." Turns out I only needed one box. Junk.

A box of cookbooks. Most of which are excellent, but some of which I've outgrown. Many contain recipes that I don't dare eat anymore. But, I still spend a long time leafing through them. My first cookbook, that I bought when I left home. The same day. I bought the book, then hit the grocery store and started my life alone in good style. Mexican food. There are a lot of cookbooks. For a while, I got one or two at every birthday.

A box full of boxes. I keep keepsakes in cigar boxes. Here's the box that's full of them. Each cigar box one is full of little items.

Cigar Box #1 is full of miscellaneous things. The hospital bracelets from the kids births. My passport from going to Borneo when I was five. My passport from going to Germany when I was in college. A broken watch with my anniversary date on the back. My high school ring. A silver pen. About 50 keys to whatever.

Cigar Box #2 is full of things that I sometimes strain to remember their significance. Some are obvious. Some pictures of girls that I dated. A coffee sleeve from a date. A hotel key. A matchbook. Some shells. Some rocks. Some rings. Earrings that can't be mine. Some that are mine. Friendship bracelets. A CD of songs. A cassette tape. A note from a girl. A note to a girl that I never gave. Some greeting cards.

Cigar Box #3 is stationary. Like I'm going to write someone a note...

There's more (I have eight cigar boxes), but you get the gist.

Turns out books are important to me. I've got a few boxes of them. I plan on reading most of them again, even though they are far from classic. There's a new old stack next to bed, even now.

A box of video tapes and DVDs. Casablanca, The Notebook, Gladiator, Last of the Mohicans, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Princess Bride, Raising Arizona, and Ever After are the ones that I've rewatched in the past week or so.

A box full of things that I've written and pictures that I've taken. Mostly crap, but a few good things in there.

So, there's been a week or so of nostalgia as I unpack. It's slowed my progress, but why do I need to hurry? I live here.