Day 224, Year 11: Facing the Storage Unit Nightmare
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2016
Weather: Overcast and Cooler; High 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones, East Falmouth, MA
In 2003 we put all of our ‘precious’ belongings in storage and moved aboard Windbird. I insisted on moving aboard so I could determine whether or not I could really be happy living on a sailboat as we sailed around the world. The beginning of that adventure was still two years off, but I wanted lots of time to adjust. I was a reluctant sailor and I really wasn’t sure the plan was going to work for me. Those of you who know me know that that transition was successful and that in just a few months I became a true lover of living aboard a sailboat. But I still insisted on keeping things in the storage unit. I just couldn’t let go of all that ‘stuff’.
Now, almost thirteen years later, we still have that storage unit, and currently we have two smaller units just to hold our personal belongings from Windbird. Fortunately for us as live-aboards, Windbird had enormous storage for a sailboat. But now we have to fit all of those things, plus everything in the original storage unit into the apartment we will move into in mid-June. I don’t think it is all going to fit, so today I decided that we had to face the storage unit nightmare. We’ve tried this many, many times before and have gotten rid of an enormous amount of things. But more needs to go and we now have a two week deadline. So this afternoon we went to the unit and just looked at what is there. The first question that came to mind was, “Why in the world did I think we needed to keep this stuff in the first place?” It has cost us a small fortune and now I’m thinking that many of the things in that unit just need to be thrown away. We just don’t have the energy, the time, or the inclination to try and sell things on Craig’s List. Besides, who really wants a long-handled scythe for cutting hay? And do we really need an almost new Honda generator? Or how about crates of old record albums? Or plastic bins of memorabilia from my teaching days? Or plaques and awards from Mark’s days in public radio? And I know we don’t need the framing for the winter cover for Windbird. Much of this stuff just needs to be thrown away, but some of it needs to find a new home. What we realized today is that we need to spend time next week weeding through things and hauling away those things that we and no one else really needs. Stay tuned on how that goes.
