Clump #83:  Change Summer bedspread; clear two bags from study.

I have trouble transitioning.  I should have switched out our bedspread quite a while ago.  This one is really not warm enough for the cool temperatures of late.

One reason I’ve been lagging is that the fabric design reminds me of the beach and, in particular, this photo taken Memorial Day Weekend at Higbee Beach, NJ:

Subconsciously, I want to go back.  Another purple plant picture taken there:

Okay, enough of fantasy land.  Time to fess up.  I’ve had a relapse.  Readers who have been following along know I had cleared out a very onerous clutter pile in our study.  It was full of sad and sentimental things belonging to my parents, and/or related to my father’s death.  If not for this blog and the support issuing from it, I would not have had the will to accomplish the job.  After finishing, I would look into that room for inspiration to tackle other clumps, thinking, “Well, if I could do that …”

And then, the other day, I impulsively invited a good friend over so she could catch up on the latest episodes of the TV show, The Voice (we’re both addicted), which I had recorded.  The trouble was, this friend is a self-avowed clean-aholic.  So many things still in the sorting-out stage and physical to-do list box were scattered around our living areas.  They had grown arms, legs, and tentacles.  I madly pried them from many surfaces and shoveled them into the pristine study.  Defiled again!

But I will not let this bank of flotsam and jetsam remain.  It will ebb away … one … clump … a … day.  Here was today’s clump: items taken out of cars and needing to be sorted into piles of keep (and replace), give away, or toss/shred/recycle.  Done.

It’s funny how things happen serendipitously.  Not long ago the bristle part of my brush became unglued and flew off onto the bathroom counter, smashing this glass container filled with found beach pebbles and shells.  It had been there a long time collecting dust, and, honestly, I really didn’t notice it very much anymore; so I don’t feel the need to replace it.

I’m trying to follow the adage that you should only have things in your home that are useful or make you smile, or both.  I won’t wait for them to be destroyed to make that determination.

Clump #36: De-Clump blue beach bag.

Day Five of the 30-day, 30-clump, 30-post challenge.  I’m getting tired … stay tuned!

I love the word unfettered.  Free, unencumbered … joyful, even.  It’s how I should feel about this beach bag.  A container for a towel, a book, flip-flops, and not much else.  Instead, I weighed it down with a ton of unattended-to mail, magazines, and the like.

I’m not going to sugar-coat the story … this clump was rough.  So much tedious raking and combing through old, neglected papers.  In the middle of the pile, Oprah was there to cheer me on, smiling and proclaiming how happy I would be when I got through it.  Thanks, I needed that!

And, yes, I did eventually reach the bottom.  Hallelujah!  Note the diminished sunlight.

Empty?  Not quite.  There was something lurking in the bag’s pocket: seashells and sand.  As it should be.

Thinking about beaches and being weighed down reminded me of the time we were visiting the New Jersey shore and saw this horseshoe crab. The poor thing was washed up on the sand, burdened for who knows how long with moochers stuck to its shell.

Here’s a close-up (without my finger in the top left corner).

One of the joys of going on vacation is getting away from all of our stuff.  The feeling of being unfettered for a while, and if you’re lucky, cleaned and cleared with a wave’s ebb and flow.