Mittens and Gloves

Day 271: Mittens and Gloves

Sam's forum at Community High is collecting warm clothing for the St. Andrew's breakfast Thursday. I don't know what the St. Andrew's breakfast is, but I know that Sam's forum has given him many opportunities to serve and give.

"Christmas is at our throats again." This is how Arthur C. Brooks begins his OpEd piece in the New York Times this weekend about the commercialization of Christmas. I'm not sure that all our buying is in the spirit of generosity, either. As one of my friends joked on Facebook: "Almost done with my Christmas shopping! Now I just have to buy presents."

Giving Tuesday may be a partial antidote. What if we all resolved to give an equal amount outside our immediate circle of family and friends? For every dollar on stocking stuffers, what if I contributed a dollar to Food Gatherers? We might be ripe for broadening our definition of holiday giving: the University of Michigan set a Giving Tuesday goal of $1M and raised $3.2M in that one day.

Sam's forum did in fact collect money for Food Gatherers, a charity after my own heart. How can you not support Food Gatherers when one in seven people in Washtenaw County are hungry? I'm happy for him to take these mittens and gloves, and the down vest and coat I set aside a few weeks ago, for the warm clothes drive on Thursday. Tomorrow, he's staying after school to help the homeless, something a kid in his forum organized. Hoping we are on the right track.

Redemption

Day 140: Redemption and Other Books

The focus for the next ten days is going to be books. That's because the American Association of University Women's final book drop-off date is August 16, and I want to turn in as many there as I can.

Giving away books until the AAUW
drop-off closes on August 16

The AAUW book sale featured large in my childhood. My mom started volunteering for AAUW well before my memory dawns. Every year, our basement became stacked full of cardboard cartons, crammed with books people had donated to the sale. Once, our basement flooded while we were on vacation. I believe that was the last year we were asked to store books.

We saw less and less of my mom in the weeks leading up to the event. Back then, the sale took place in the Michigan Union ballroom, a huge, beautiful room mobbed with people for the three days of the sale. I didn't understand what it was all about, but I liked to browse among the books, wander through the Union, and sit beside my mom at the cash box.

A few years ago, my mom invited me an AAUW luncheon. Two scholarship recipients - beneficiaries of the sale proceeds - spoke. Up until then, I'd thought the sale was an awful lot of work for only a little gain: last time I got a report (granted, this was a long time ago) sale proceeds were in the neighborhood of $10K. I'm well aware of the many hours these dedicated volunteers put into the sale; I'm guessing they might earn $10K or more putting the same number of hours into minimum wage jobs.

Both scholarship recipients actually wept when they spoke at the podium. One was an older single mother. The other was a young woman, first in her family to go to college. Both were attending the University of Michigan, and both told the audience that they could not have afforded to go to college without the AAUW scholarship. Even $10,000 divided by two can make a big difference in someone's life.

The university-educated women who belong to and volunteer for AAUW aren't interested in low-paying jobs. They want the connection and community that comes from joining together in service of a larger purpose. So if you, like me, are getting rid of one thing every day - or just occasionally - consider giving your books to AAUW. You'll know your good books are going to a good cause.

Duffel Bag

Day 135: Duffel Bag

How convenient! Rich decided to get rid of this duffel bag just when Abby asked me to separate out the giveaway clothes that might be good for my nieces. I can deliver the clothes inside the duffel bag. Abby won't remember this, but I was actually with her when I bought this duffel bag in the Traverse City Target. Seems like a long time ago now.

Rich is going to use my sturdier, luggage-quality duffel as a workout bag instead.

Did you know that the word "duffel" is derived from the town of Duffel in Belgium? First known use, 1677. Technically, this is probably not a duffel bag, because it is not made of course, heavy woolen material. And it can be spelled "duffle" or "duffel" (which explains why I was confused and had to look it up in the first place).

The word duffel also refers to transportable belongings. I'm starting to do a little research into poverty and need here in the State of Michigan, wondering whether, with better transportation, those of us in wealthier communities might be able to alleviate suffering in our more desperate Michigan communities. Detroit. Flint. Rural U.P.

More to follow.

Go Blue! Garden Gnome

Day 88: Go Blue! Garden Gnome

My father believes that some of my blog postings are good enough for the Huffington Post. He contributes generously to the Arb & Gardens, in part because he thinks it's a well-run organization. (It must be! I'm in charge.) He believes my husband is lucky to have me as his wife, and my children are lucky to have me as their mother. If I can't make it to family dinner on Sundays (as often happens with our busy schedules), he sometimes tries to convince me that it would actually be more convenient to stop by his house briefly to scarf down the dinner he cooks than to prepare food at home. When I do make it to family dinner, he likes me to linger. 

In short, I am the happy recipient of my father's unconditional love.

For Father's Day, I am giving him this Go Blue! garden gnome. I received this gnome as an award for being the woman who logged the most Active U minutes at work. There's poetic justice in that, because my father and I used to go running together, back when I was a miserable middle school student. We'd run around Pleasant Lake, where we had a weekend cottage, and sometimes enter 10K races together.

Also, he loves the University of Michigan. Our nuclear family has eight degrees from U-M, he says, and our extended family, many more. His father played football for Michigan, back in the twenties.

Happy father's day, Dad! Thanks for everything.

Stars

Day 87: Stars

I have been saving these stars for months - years? - to give to my niece, Evie. People say Evie looks like me, and I certainly relate to her. One of the many things we share is difficulties with sleep. In the last house I lived in, Rich and I had a skylight above our bed. When I had trouble sleeping, I could lie in bed and gaze at the stars. It was the thing I missed most when we moved to the house we're in now.

In the new house (we've been here eleven years), I have a few of these glowing plastic stars on the ceiling above our bed. I meant to add these to make a full starry night, but never got around to it. Just the few I have are enough to evoke the peaceful feelings of a full night sky.

I don't know if Evie has had the experience of sleeping out under the stars. The utter blackness. At first, frogs and crickets. Later, silence. Sometimes, owls. Sleeplessness, yes. But peaceful.

Perhaps these stars can evoke that peace for Evie. Sleepless rest, in peace.

More Books for the Little Free Library

We had two copies of The Old,
Weird America, separated by a shelf

Day 75: More Books for the Little Free Library
I walked back and forth between the bookshelf and the giveaway pile three times with The Barrytown Trilogy in my hand. And Herman Wouk: I'm swooning. But the little free library would be no good if people only put second rate books in it.

When I dropped the stack off this morning, I couldn't resist taking one more in exchange.

Two steps forward, one step back.

Craft Supplies

Day 68: Craft Supplies

My heart is in two places: northern California and Ann Arbor. A few months ago, Rich had an opportunity to take a job in San Luis Obispo. This possibility filled us with joy - reunited with that distant piece of our hearts! - and sorrow - separated from the bits of ourselves rooted here in the Midwest.

Because there are no jobs in SLO for policy analysts cum botanical gardens managers, I began to research franchises. The franchise I was interested in was Plato's Closet, which resells gently used teen and twenty-something clothing, This is right up my alley, doing its bit to keep the economy going while deemphasizing new (non-sustainably, non-humanely produced) merchandise.

I can see why it's so hard for local businesses to compete with a franchise. Economies of scale combined with tried and true business practices. Most of the profits and the jobs held locally. Exponentially higher chances of running a profit. If you follow the formula, it's very difficult to fail.

The formula: aye, there's the rub. We like the quirky individualism of local businesses. We like the idea that all the profits come to our local communities. We like knowing and caring about the owner.

That's why I loved A2UP!, which brings the reuse business to arts & crafts. I'd met the young entrepreneur, Kati, and was totally charmed. I know that she quit her corporate job to open this new business, and that she's invested her money, her heart and her soul into it. She's made a beautiful space, and she can use all her intelligence and creativity to make a place that is more than just a resale shop: it's a community.

On the downside, she can't afford staff, and so has to keep her hours limited. I arrived yesterday at 1:30 because the web site said she was open from 11:30 to 5 on Sundays. The door was locked, though the sign said "open." The shop has no phone number, so I emailed and stood knocking for a while. Ultimately, I left - and left a message saying that the craft supplies were on my front porch for her if she wanted them. She sent a gracious and apologetic response and quickly came to take the supplies away.

All's well that ends well.

Another Bookshelf

Day 66: Another Bookshelf 
Elizabeth and Karl both wanted Grandma Betty's bookshelf. Now what?

I bought this shelf at a flea market in Oakland, not long after I moved to San Francisco. It is the first bookshelf I ever bought, heavy old hardwood with hinge marks in the wood. Used to be, it had glass doors, or so I suspect. I moved it across the country to Ann Arbor and painted it blue on the outside and green on the inside, and decorated it with swirls and daisies for Emma's room. But now Emma loves her black IKEA shelves. This has been relegated to the attic with all the other empty shelves.

I've decided.The Oakland flea market shelf goes to Karl, who needs a shelf for his classroom at Summers Knoll School. It is larger, more solid and decorated for kids. If it stays at the school after he leaves, all the better. Old furniture like that is sturdy enough for hard use. I can remember it fondly, without it actually cluttering up my attic.

Grandma Betty's shelf goes to my sister, because she loved Grandma Betty too, and will appreciate the craftsmanship and keep the shelf in the family. Maybe I'll even get it back someday, if ever I need another bookshelf. I can visit it.

Letting go, but not quite.

Crutches

Day 59: Crutches

Crutches can have a second life as a toy. A boy can use them as a mobile jungle gym, or they make great machine guns. This is true only if they've been taken out of the basement and brought upstairs.

Emma got these crutches years ago when she sprained her ankle playing miniature golf with her littler cousins. They didn't cost us a thing - health insurance covered it - but I've been reluctant to get rid of them. They might come in handy some day.

Health insurance: don't get me started. So complicated, I don't even know how to think about it. There must be some relationship between the high cost of medical care and the fact that we've got perfectly serviceable medical equipment moldering in the basement, courtesy of Blue Care Network.

Someone without insurance might be able to use these. Up they go on Freecycle. Between the four of us, we've only needed crutches for a few days that one time, but if we do need crutches again, I suppose insurance will cover it again.

Nambe

Day 58: Nambe Dish

All wrapped up and ready
for a better home

My sister has a passion for stuff. Her stuff is carefully selected, well-maintained, exquisitely arranged and meticulously organized. She and I can buy the same pair of shoes at the same store on the same day. Within a month, my shoes are down-at-the heels and the foxing is separated from the sole. Two years later, she'll hand hers down to me in pristine condition. If I had her stuff, my house would be a cyclone of dust and disarray. The same stuff in her house is warm, peaceful, useful and artistic.

Part of my motivation with the stuff challenge was to bring myself back to the clearer, quieter place of a clean and clutter-free home. I've struck a chord, or perhaps I've joined a symphony. Many of my friends have joined me in giving away one thing each day for a year. The internet, libraries and magazine-racks are full of articles about decluttering and simplifying. I keep hearing about the age of mass-consumerism, the glut of stuff and the physical, mental and moral benefits of simplifying.

But Elizabeth will tell you: stuff is a good thing. A hundred years ago, stuff was treasured, cared for, uplifted, valued. Why do we all want to get rid of ours?

I think stuff is like food. Good food, carefully prepared and thoughtfully consumed, is good for body and soul. Junk food adds pounds and makes you feel like crap.

As wedding gifts, my sister and I each received a Nambe dish from friends of our parents. Mine is hidden away. I hardly use it; even so, it's a bit stained. Elizabeth, on the other hand, now has a valued, much-used and flawless collection of Nambe.

Yesterday I gave Elizabeth my Nambe for her birthday. It deserves a better home.

More Tricycles

Day 57: More Tricycle Magazines

Connie was disappointed when she learned
I'd dropped off all the Tricycles at the library.
Won't she be surprised!

If you think it's hard to organize a house, imagine what it's like to organize a 50-year-old two-acre building complex - including three barns - as we are doing at Matthaei Botanical Gardens right now. The plant labels have been especially challenging. We keep thinking we've got them all consolidated, and then a few more pop up in a box in some hidden corner. They're like garlic in the bloodstream.

At home, magazines and bedsheets are like plant labels. They keep popping up everywhere. I thought I'd given away all the Tricycle Magazines weeks ago, but four more emerged amid the big pile of National Geographics a few days ago. An excuse to send some mail to Connie at the farm.

Wicker Shelf

Day 34: Wicker Shelf

Needs a good scrubbing
but otherwise it's in great shape!
Perfect for all your garden stuff

I'm just a gal who can't say no. This wicker hand-me-down from my parents is perfectly nice and perfectly functional. Why not? Right?

Wrong. This shelf has been blocking the electrical outlet, the fuse box, the garage door opener and the people door for years. We've got plenty of built-in empty shelf space in the garage. It took five minutes to move the few things off this shelf onto another empty shelf. If I'd said no to begin with, it would probably be a lot cleaner now.

Old furniture is not easy to recycle and often ends in landfills. I found out that the best thing you can do to keep furniture out of landfills is to buy used furniture instead of new. The good news is that there is plenty of it. High quality. Cheap.

Case in point: do you like this wicker shelf? It's advertised on Craig's List right now for $0.

Act now.

Complete Guide to Home Improvement

Day 30: Bookshelf #3 - Time-Life Complete Guide to Home Improvement, Julie & Julia, and Other Good Reads

My neighbors built this little
free library in their front yard.
Anybody can add or take away books.

If your looking for a good read,
these are in the little free library

Today I'm giving away good reads that will go over well in the little free library around the corner. Included amongst them, Julie & Julia, one of the books that inspired this stuff project. I love reading books about ordinary people who set challenges for themselves and gain insight from the experience. However, I found Julie Powell to be neither a deep thinker nor especially likable.

My minimum goal is to get to where the books are stacked only one deep. Also they should be standing on their edges and not stacked on their sides (which, as you probably know, fits a few more on the shelf).

Another internet casualty:
I haven't cracked this book in years.
I've been using DIY videos

I am keeping a 2009 Tappan Middle school yearbook (although perhaps those years are best forgotten), six plays and monologues for student actors, and a book about the history of soccer (authored by my brother Karl). I am also keeping two cookbooks: the Moosewood and Fanny Farmer.

Come to think of it, I couldn't find a sauteed chicken recipe in Fanny Farmer yesterday and had to wing it because my iPad was at work. Maybe I should give away Fanny Farmer and the Moosewood after all.

Nah.

Tricycle Magazine

Day 6: Tricycle Magazine

There is exquisite irony in hanging onto old Buddhist magazines. I hope someone at the library magazine exchange finds value in them.