Things...too many things...

We recently had our carpets steam cleaned. I'm glad it happened, but the process of getting prepared for this to happen and the aftermath yielded an unfortunate reality I am embarrassed to be a part of -- WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!! The sad thing, is that 80-90% of this stuff was not even purchased by us. There is stuff we were given when we got married, stuff people gave to M and having a child for a little bit over two years has taught me that they are pretty simple and do not require THAT MUCH stuff for daily living. Adults complicate the lives of kids, but kids are pretty basic and excess clothes and toys sitting in a closet is not a resourceful use of space and could easily be utilized by less fortunate families, homeless shelters, churches or other locations. It was amazing to see all the items I transferred from three closets to the basement in preparation for the carpet guy to come in here and work his non-toxic magic. Well, this exercise opened my eyes and the process calls for a minimum of items to remain in closets, lots of purging and a deliberate act of living a more simple life.

Eye Spy......

Have you ever played the WORD ASSOCIATION GAME? You know, think of a word and the FIRST thing that comes to mind just leaps from your tongue. I tend to play this game alot although I have evolved to images. Since I love photography so much, images evoke words and words and words although this post lends itself to one image being associated with another...in my mind, at least.

Exhibit A:
Princess Beatrice of York

I don't possess any obsession with British Royalty, but happened to be reading a story and saw her image and my synapses started dancing and made me think of..........

Exhibit B:
Large Marge from Pee Wee's Big Adventure


What can I tell you? The labyrinth that is my mind goes to unusual places sometimes....I feel better now that this is out in the open. :p

Bonus Exhibit:

The GREAT Pumpkins.....

I have a friend across the border who is pretty eccentric in terms of pretty much anything he does. I appreciate that because it is not something I could apply to as many things in my life as this guy does. I love it if we don't speak for a few days because he usually has some off-the-wall dramatic story that occurred and it is usually pretty unbelievable, but he always has proof that these events have occurred. Anyway, as a fellow gardener, we talk about items we grow and as you can see in the pics, the guy grows giant pumpkins. These two monsters (one is almost 700lbs and the other is +500) were at his grandmothers house and he has two other patches he tends to. It's crazy the rituals he goes through to feed these beasts. I had no choice but to take pics near these buggers when we were in Windsor last night for a bbq he had. He also brews beer and wine, but that is another post for another time.
The official weigh-in is at the beginning of next month at the county fair. I'd love to video the act of moving these things to the fair grounds....Sheesh..