Clutter

One of the neat inventions of the modern era are blowers and suckers for yard work. This time of the year, with detritus falling off trees, I find myself blowing the detritus to the side of the drive and then using the sucker mode to pick up the stuff and place in the compost bin. In the fall, I like to keep the driveway and curb in front of our house clear of leaves to avoid washing down the storm sewer and head to the lakes which can raise lake phosphorous levels, so having both is also handy. This is a tale of how my wife likes to declutter, and how the leaf blower played apart.

With Sucker attachment

Many years ago I bought an electric corded leaf blower/sucker. There were two different attachments, one for each main action of the machine. About five years ago part of the attachment for sucking broke. I really like the sucker as in the fall we rake the leaves on to piles or rows and then I use that to pick them up, which in the process breaks them up making them better for mulching the flower beds.  Hence, I had to buy a new one, but I kept the old one, which allowed me blow with one and suck with the other without changing attachments. Well, this last week the electric engine on the original machine stopped working so I am down to the one. My wife said, "Good, another piece of clutter gone." I am not sure something one uses is clutter, but I am not an expert on clutter except at perhaps making clutter. Do I need a second blower/sucker machine, no, but it sure helps with certain jobs like cleaning the driveway. It is much easier to change the cord then change the attachment, and I kept the blower on the old and the sucker on the new. Taking on and off each attachment leads to the likelihood that one attachment will break, like that small plastic piece on the old sucker that when  broken rendered it useless. Planned obsolescence makes buying a part the cost of a new machine. I liked using the two machines so much that I thought I would go buy another one just to have that ability again. But, my wife's comment put an end to that thought.

This comment, and other comments on her desperate efforts to declutter, led to a dream I had the other night. In my dream we were camping, and we get home to find out that someone had squatted in our house. Not only had they squatted, but they sold much of our stuff. I am irate, and in my dream am upset that they sold our kayaks. I am not sure if they sold my bike or not, as that was not in the dream. My wife's only comment was that, "This is good, there is less clutter." She was not concerned about our house being violated or gear sold, only less clutter to deal with. This statement shows my wife's priorities, getting rid of stuff. I was really mad at what had happened. Somehow I tracked down one of the kayaks that was illicitly sold by the squatter and grabbed it. My wife told me I stole it, and I said it was an illicit sale the squatter and I was reclaiming my rightful ownership. The squatter had no right to not only live in our house, but to sell our stuff. She may have had a different tune, in my dream, if they sold her sewing machine, or stamp sets. I got the kayak back only to see it stolen again. I then woke up.

With blower attachment

My wife is an organizer and has been on this declutter mission for sometime now. She is always on the lookout for an angle to get rid of an item or two or three or..... I am one of those people who hold on to a part from something that broke, thinking at some point I will find a reuse for it. For example, I have pieces of wood a tube from a broken bike pump. I even have harvested screws, bolts and nuts off of old electronics, like a broken DVD player, to keep in case a I need a small screw or bolt. The idea is to save a trip to the hardware store, but my looking probably wastes more time than a trip to the hardware store which is but a few minute bike ride away. I am may have used one or two of those mined screws in the past several years. I have a whole bunch of miscellaneous screws and nuts. My wife's grandfather had a whole cigar box full of nuts, which some how I ended up with. This was obviously before the wife's decluttering days. Unless specifically purchased, most often my bolts don't match the nuts. The DVD with bolts, often had a built in nut for the bolt. 

The whole clutter thing raises a couple questions: When does being frugal become parsimonious? And, when does saving parts of objects become clutter? Everyone will have a different idea on how these questions are answered, and they will have different levels and types of clutter in their home. 

I never would have thought the leaf blower and other issues would lead to such a weird dream of squatters and them selling my kayaks. Most interesting of all, was my wife's reaction about their being a few less items of clutter around the house. It may only be a matter of time before I am deemed clutter.