December 29, 2003

  • Old Photos


    So yesterday the Cleaning Bug struck.  I seldom fall prey to this particular ailment.  Only those who inhabit the same house can attest to the sad evidence of my immunity, but let me assure those of you happily distanced by cyberspace:  there's evidence a-plenty, and you're fortunate not to experience it viscerally.


    In any case, I was at it with vaccuum and storage boxes and rampaging, clench-jawed determination by the time dawn cleared the horizon.  I only paused twice.  Once was when the kids' adventure play reached screeching you-did-you-did-not proportions.  I let it go on for long enough, but finally dropped the vaccuum wand and started downstairs.....only to pause, astonished, as they worked it out themselves.  Hmmm. 


    The second pause came as a flood of old photos poured out in my lap from a long-forgotten box.  I sat surrounded by chaos and dust, looking at an image of myself, in a t-shirt proclaiming an African conservation zone, holding up a large bluegill with an insane grin at my fisherwoman's prowess.  I could smell the pond-weed.  I could feel the wriggles of that twisting scaly hooked fish.  I could see the answering grin of the photographer.....


    Well.  I did eventually get the photos boxed again, but there was that moment when time stopped.  Probably a good thing.  The release of old memories is no doubt the only truly efficacious antidote for the Cleaning Bug.

Comments (20)

  • I live in a household that is perpetually in cleaning mode.  It's a sickness. 

  • i never seem to finish my cleaning, cuz i'm always finding something to steal my interest. (at least that's the excuse i'm using.)

  • clean??  hmmm...

    Main Entry: 3 clean
    Function: verb
    Date: 15th century
    transitive senses
    1 a : to make clean: as (1) : to rid of dirt, impurities, or extraneous matter
    (2) : to rid of corruption
    b : REMOVE, ERADICATE -- usually used with up or off

    ...remove mess???  o_0

    hey.  buckle up, k?

  • I just found a pile of my old pictures while putting away Christmas paper - it was a nice trip

  • I sort of love stumbling across old boxes of photos....nothing to take you out of the present like that. I'm hoping the cleaning bug will strike here within the next day or so. Things are looking pretty bad.

  • Sounds like one of my insane-possessed cleaning sprees! Uggh... and considering I am going to have a house FULL of peoples here for New Years... I foresee another one of those sprees coming in the near future. 

  • The Cleaning Bug.  Strange but fruitful.

    I am an avid, though not necessarily talented, photographer.  I have thousands of pictures.  And yes, I need them all.  Every last one.  Just for the purpose of having moments like the one you've just described.

  • An attack of the neats, eh?  When it happens to me, I either lie down till the feeling goes away, or I decide to answer the call.  In which case, it's ESSENTIAL to reserve a shelf (that has doors you can close) for such things as boxes of old photographs.  :) :)

  • I love getting lost in boxes of old photos and such.

  • Achoo!  Don't give the cleaning bug to me!

    Hope you had fun!

  • But such a wonderful trip down memory lane when you go through old things and "clean up" ...   I always found that the biggest detriment to accomplishing my cleanup tasks - getting waylaid by reminiscences.

  • oh i love coming across my old good times. so many and all dusty now. i love it!

  • I love to find boxes with old photos and I really need to start organizing them.

  • the grin of the photographer :) hmmmm :) no wonder time stopped ;) happy new year :)

  • not to mention the primary reward of the cleaning bug.... finding memories and evidence of who you are/were/meant to be.

  • I think that is why I never clean... too many piles of photographs around.

    I kid you not, I have a big bag of undeveloped films.  About 30 of them.  I'm terrified to get them developed, it will release too many flood of memories, I'm sure.

    Hrmmm, where DID I leave that bag, anyway?

  •   I see the Bluegill in this story has been totally neglected by all previous comments. The Bluegill, also known as a Sunfish or Bream, is a small but stalwart fighter and when the angler is lucky enough to catch one large enough, it makes for one of the tastiest freshwater fish around with it's firm white flaky flesh and a very light flavor. I have alot of memories that involve Bluegill and all of them are good. Thanks for bringing them to mind, I haven't caught one in about 15 years.

  • that's the prize you get for cleaning!

  • And that's another reason why I'm such a packrat.  Cleaning that shit up just gets me into a nostalgic funk.  Nothing gets done, but I kinda enjoy getting lost in my old stuff.  And funny that we should both be going through old photos at the same time.

  • I need a booster shot - my immunity is wearing thin and allowing me to sort through storerooms this week. Yikes!

    Have a happy, healthy 2004!

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