Life List #23 : Basement Clean Up

Last summer, I put some basement work on my life list.  My basement is large ---- two rooms with nearly 700 square feet of space.  And it was a mess; the depository of all sorts of junk, much of it unneeded and most of it in cardboard boxes.

The fact that my basement takes on water when there is a heavy rain meant that on occasion those boxes would become my private disaster zone.  In the aftermath of the first flood in 2007, some things got tossed out.  The rest got stacked up to await an eventual clean-up.

Clean-up arrived in the form of basement flood number two earlier this month. As the stink of wet cardboard filled my home, I was inspired for a massive clean-out.  And that's exactly what happened last weekend.  JT was a tremendous help, helping to haul things out for the garbage men to come and carry it all away.  When the final mountain of trash was collected in the driveway he took a critical look at it and announced. "that's just shameful."

I must agree.  But in the aftermath I have an organized basement. The remaining boxes, filled with things I want, are placed on shelves, carefully ordered so that I can find the things I'll use ---- Christmas decorations, winter scarves and mittens, and some of JT's childhood treasures ----- while the junk has been excised from our lives.

Every once in a while, I just walk downstairs to admire the glorious order of it all.   And, of course, I checked number 23 off the list!