As I was making the video below, I couldn't help but think about my dad and how much like him I am. It seemed to me he kept everything in case he would need it some day or could fix it up and use it again. Consequently, his garage, basement, attic, and house had a narrow path in which to walk with stuff piled on either side like the Red Sea when God parted the waters for the Israelites to walk across!

Dad's Dining Room

I'm not that bad . . . yet, but my den closet fits that description. So far, it has not spread to other parts of my house. Watch this video of my attempt to clean out my den closet and you will see what I mean:


 

The need for me to have a supply of boxes I think is in my genes. I definitely have inherited that from my dad; however, based on my own experience, it is good to save them so when I have to return an item, I still have the original box. The only difference between my dad and me regarding this is that he kept his boxes in his dining room; whereas, mine are in my closets. Yes, I do mean plural here--I have some in the basement closet too.  (Link: http://youtu.be/YlG6j82rr74)

This is part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt: Describe a talent or flaw that seems to be in your genes. You can join in too if you like--there are 5 prompts from which to choose!  I also did the prompt:  "When you first discovered the Internet, what sites did you frequent most?" on my other blog, Right Where We Belong.

Having as many as 6 cats in his house at one time and as few as 3 during his old age, my dad had a lot of litter boxes to clean out. Because he wasn't very steady on his feet when he was in his later 80s, he didn't take the poop out every day, but did clean the litter boxes each day putting the droppings into the long plastic bags that the newspaper came in. These he placed in a can and it worked good! Each week he would collect them to take them out for the garbage pickup.

Blackie, Timi, Striper


Sweet Thing, Sylvester, Softie

Harry was very much the pack rat. He saved everything, even junk mail! Yes, he found a use for it too. I don't remember him saving it when we were young although he may have and I just did know it. When he got to be a senior citizen, he got some of those big clips from the office supply store and tore his junk mail in thirds or halves depending on the size and used the back as scratch paper. He would clip a pile together and have a nice little scratch pad. (No wonder he ran out of time in his day doing all these necessary things!) I thought it was pretty smart of him actually since he used it for writing down what he ate every day. Little did I realize how many he had until after he died and I was cleaning out his house. When I opened up the back room closet, he had a whole big supply hanging on the door!