Happy Hoarder Day # 14 Long and Winding Brick Road Feb. 28, 2015
A journey into cleaning up a big pile of..... hoard
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A journey into cleaning up a big pile of..... hoard
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(photos soon)
The Long and Winding Brick Road
by Janet S. Tiger
(c) 2015 all rights reserved
tigerteam1@gmail.com
These are perfect bricks - made out of boxes and wallpaper covering. They were props from a play of mine (http://rennysstory.com/) last performed very successfully here in San Diego over seven years ago. They sit in a large plastic box, to protect them from the elements.
Why have I saved them? Because, maybe one day, the play will be done again and we will need these bricks. Of course, my friend, Diane, who was the director, the woman who actually created these bricks, is retired and no longer directs, so it would have to be someone else. Someone who would want to take these exact bricks - in other words, use the same blocking ideas that would require these bricks - and recycle them.
So I wait for this to happen. And wait. Should I keep them for that day that this could occur? Or should I..... just throw them out?
I talk with Diane, who gives me permission to discard these cardboard remnants of years past. I continue to keep them in the hoard. Then she gives a magic suggestion - what if I donate them, maybe Amvets can use them for a cute display? The idea illuminates my brain! An idea whose time has come! I have a rationale that will allow me to leave these bricks out for Amvets on Monday! I go to my husband and tell him the good news - and he says, "Oh, good, then Amvets will get to throw them away'.....and my hopes are dashed.
Why would I donate them .....just to be put in a garbage pail elsewhere? He has thrown cold water on my dreams that the bricks will live on, elsewhere, in a happy life. Like the children told their beloved puppy hit by a car that has gone to a happy farm, I must have my illusions!
These are perfect bricks - made out of boxes and wallpaper covering. They were props from a play of mine (http://rennysstory.com/) last performed very successfully here in San Diego over seven years ago. They sit in a large plastic box, to protect them from the elements.
Why have I saved them? Because, maybe one day, the play will be done again and we will need these bricks. Of course, my friend, Diane, who was the director, the woman who actually created these bricks, is retired and no longer directs, so it would have to be someone else. Someone who would want to take these exact bricks - in other words, use the same blocking ideas that would require these bricks - and recycle them.
So I wait for this to happen. And wait. Should I keep them for that day that this could occur? Or should I..... just throw them out?
I talk with Diane, who gives me permission to discard these cardboard remnants of years past. I continue to keep them in the hoard. Then she gives a magic suggestion - what if I donate them, maybe Amvets can use them for a cute display? The idea illuminates my brain! An idea whose time has come! I have a rationale that will allow me to leave these bricks out for Amvets on Monday! I go to my husband and tell him the good news - and he says, "Oh, good, then Amvets will get to throw them away'.....and my hopes are dashed.
Why would I donate them .....just to be put in a garbage pail elsewhere? He has thrown cold water on my dreams that the bricks will live on, elsewhere, in a happy life. Like the children told their beloved puppy hit by a car that has gone to a happy farm, I must have my illusions!
Then he says, 'When they do the play next time, the director will get new bricks' and I am happy again. I decide to try to remove some mental clutter about this - to throw away the idea that everything saved can be used again. It's as if the idea is frozen in my brain. I throw warm water on it - maybe if I did that to the bricks, they will get wet and really be ready for the garbage pail.
After much intense rumination, I decide to put the bricks in a plastic bag, clearly labeled for Amvets- with a note that they can be used for a display. I will leave it in God's hands what happens to the bricks. Or the people who sort through the Amvets donations. Or maybe.....that's the same person.......
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Janet S. Tiger 858-736-6315
JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com
JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
"I go to my husband and tell him the good news - and he says, "Oh, good, then Amvets will get to throw them away'.....and my hopes are dashed."
ReplyDeleteI hate that, but good depiction of how people can be. He's fired!
Veronica