A Little of This, A Little of That.....

  It is funny how some things seem to just stick around forever.  I have a wealth of more or less useless items that have, for some unknown reason, been entrusted to my care.  Since I have been dubbed the "Keeper of Weird and Wonderful Things", I do my best to preserve each and every one.  Why?  Who knows.  Perhaps it was instilled in me long ago that I should not toss anything that might serve a purpose some day. Who is going to follow in my footsteps and hang onto each and every one of these oddities?  Probably no one.  When my days on this earth come to an end, I have a feeling that that will be the final days for all of my treasures as well.  

  Today saw me pondering health and "hoarding".  Perhaps the lack of good health has made me feel the overpowering wealth of treasures that fill every nook and cranny of the Little Bayou House.  I like being surrounded by nostalgic items especially around the holidays.  It seems that memories can sometimes be a powerful force in our well-being.  

  Gathering together a good many of the antique Christmas ornaments made me realize that I have far too many decorations but it would break my heart to part with them.  I did promise to go through the mess after the holidays are over and at least toss anything that is broken beyond repair.  Even that is hard for a crafter since we are always thinking "I can make something with those pieces!"  (That mentality is why my craft room resembles a flea market!)  When looking over the latest box discovered in the back of the closet, I realized that most of these are light bulbs.  Mom and Pop did not have a lot of money to spend on decorations so Mom tied strings to burned out lights from my grandparents' place.  These became ornaments.  I thought of how cute the birds, Oriental lanterns and even the Santa bulbs must have been on a tree.  I have to admit that the floating head might have given me the willies, though!  To make matters worse, the head was "two faced".  Both sides had the same features.  Too scary for me.

  Some of these antique ornaments stay out all year long while others are whisked away to the upstairs closet when the tree, garland and lights take leave.  Collections, like memories, can become quite cluttered with age.  It just takes a bit of sorting now and again to straighten things.  I need to dust the cobwebs from the corners of my mind and from the knickknacks that fill the shelves.