Old Dog, New Tricks
Can an old dog learn new tricks. I guess after 80 years an old dog can still learn some new tricks. Making lists sounds like a good idea, which I seldom do, but there is something else I’m going to try.
All of my life I have had difficulty being organized. I have always accepted that I am just a disorganized person. I think I have found some ideas that might help. I find something I would like to put away, but every drawer, every countertop, and every cupboard, is filled to the brim. Nothing of any value, just STUFF.
I guess after living in the same house 50 plus years we have accumulated a few things, but are we hoarders. Some people just can’t get rid of anything, and it just piles up. Hoarding can be a disease. Nature does not like a vacuum. If you build a table or a countertop or a cupboard you better fill it up quick, because I guarantee it will get filled up.
I have been accused of throwing things away that might be valuable. If I have something that someone might be able to use, rather than just let it hang there for eternity, let’s see if someone might be able to use it. Twice I have thrown away things inadvertently. I threw away our birth certificates while cleaning out a file cabinet and didn’t know they were there. We were able to get them replaced but it’s a pain.
This year somehow I threw away our tax information. The only thing there is how much we made in interest and the bank can provide this, but it is a pain. I also threw away what we received in social security, and that would be harder too replace. I’m going to make a call in the morning.
We have a small plastic file cabinet. l took a new manila file folder and marked it 2026 tax info and told my wife when we get tax info to put it there. We had used a cardboard file folder before and I didn’t realize that my wife was still using it. The old file folder was on a porch and there was so much junk I couldn’t get to the cabinets. There were tax returns from 2009. So I threw away the old tax folders but somehow she had put the new information in the old file folder and I wasn’t aware of it.
Lately I have been trying to keep things in order. Even on a table or countertop in good order and clean. If you keep things clean, it is much easier than to mess things up and then have to clean them. If you have a family, each one should know where things belong and keep things tidy and clean up behind yourself. It saves much time in the long run.
All her life my friend would never leave the kitchen with dirty dishes in the sink. I’m not saying you have to do this, but it is probably the easiest way if you’re not a fan of dirty dishes. Also if her bed is not made, she’s sick.
“That picture of our honeymoon, That night on Frisco Bay, Just give it away, Just give it away”. George Strait
After his wife left she was not connected to those things anymore. On the day my father-in-law left his farm it nearly killed him. I feel like I’m not attached to our house, but I probably will feel bad when we have to leave. All of us will face that day.
This was written on Easter 2026, and there is a new discovery, especially to me. Because Christ arose we need not fear death. Death is simply leaving this planet which we have absolutely no attachment to. We will miss seeing loved ones but only for a short time, and then we’ll be together again.
—James Neuhouser
