Great Entertainment for a Sunday Afternoon 

We have multiple junk drawers – four to be exact with another half dozen with a question that they’re for that purpose!  I could easily be a hoarder because if anything is family oriented I want to keep it, but our son and daughter have asked us to go through everything getting rid of all the real junk and keeping the important items including a note why we’re keeping it.  The majority of the genealogy is in the computer room, most of which is on the computer at this point (well over 300,000 names).  Pretty easy and now fairly organized, but the junk drawers are the hardest – I mean what’s junk or what’s not?

So, gandering in the junk drawers I discovered several items I have held on to for well over a couple dozen years.  Nothing really expensive or antiquey but all with lots of memories.  My favorite is my dad’s red egg separator for his mail recipients at Christmas  (about 1958) and the notation is so my dad — “Fred Bazzani, your mail carrier who is a good egg!”  Oh, and it works great, too. 

I sometimes use reader glasses if the print is small and a different pair to watch TV – otherwise, I’m glass-free. But there are six pair spread out in these drawers from who knows how long ago – but of course, I can’t see out of any of them!

There are several partial boxes of birthday candles – someone is going to get a real array of colors on the cake one of these days.  Speaking of birthdays, there is grandson Stephen’s which we give him every year since cards have gotten so expensive – it’s fun!  On the card line, there is a large batch of Christmas cards (also many cards to us including Mother’s and Father’s Day, birthdays, Christmas and on and on and a pair of gloves, plus a “Mystery Guest” article from The Paper of Montgomery County which is about me!

Many exercise pamphlets from my heart before and after therapy are strewed within three drawers.  We followed Dr. Stephen Gundry’s diet for at least three years and I found not only info on that but also a small gift package of “Essential Green Apple Superfood.” I’ll probably pitch that!

Never can I find eye drops but did discover two brand new bottles in the drawers.  Our good silverware is very fine and I thought it was all in the nice container I have for it, but instead I found three forks, two knives and five spoons.  Sure not junk!

Two things I want to tell you about before I leave you with thoughts of your own junk drawers or shaking your head about what an idiot you think you are for keeping these things.  So, one is an original publishing of Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (by far her best book – to me anyway).  We read it on a vacation out west and realized we were about 10 miles from their home and visited there.  “Little Bits” was the perfect nickname for her as her kitchen counter was about at my waist and I’m only 5’3”. 

The other prize possession I discovered that I thought was well gone – it was the beginning, the original of a book I began and the professor’s comments.  Most were dead on but occasionally it was like WHAT?  Such as “Well, girl, I liked the day with you!”  “Me, too, Bobo, me too!”  Prof said I needed more dialogue but I had someone else tell me dialogue is only for emphasis or to introduce something – well that was one of the few I disagreed with.  The one thing I wrote that she absolutely loved was “Yes, he understood her desire to stay in Italy but his venturesome heart always pushed him to wander!”

So, junk drawers can be a cove for treasurers, stuff you must get rid of, or my view, great entertainment for a Sunday afternoon!

For years, Karen Zach was the editor of Montgomery Memories, our monthly magazine all about Montgomery County. Her column, Around the County, appeared every Friday in The Paper of Montgomery County. Karen retired from all that a few years ago but sent us this gem to share with you. You can reach her at karen.zach@sbcglobal.net.