Possession #54 - Toaster Oven

I grew up with an old pop-up toaster which always threatened to electrocute you if you stuck your knife in it to extricate a stubborn piece of toast. But for many years it's been the toaster oven that's been the main stay of the kitchen. It once caught fire when we bought a newer more efficient model.

Looking at the electric appliances littering my countertop, I think of the Youtube video I saw of a tent city where people live more or less off the grid. It's hard to consider trading up to a more efficient toaster oven when other people are making toast over a camp fire. My research hasn't quite discovered who figured out in the first place that bread needed to be heated up in order to eat it.

Possession #53 - The Christmas Door

OK, so believe it or not, I'm posting my 53rd possession today on my 53rd birthday. And no, I didn't plan the one skipped day earlier in the week when the modem crashed. New modem is installed, the land line has been disconnected, cable provider switched and these are way too many changes for an old man to deal with!

I know it's not Christmas (although there is a fair amount of snow outside), but our Christmas Door usually stays decorated all year round (either that or by the time we think of deconstructing it the next Christmas is already upon us). We stick all our Christmas cards up on this door so that we can see pictures and notes from all our friends and family and to remind ourselves to get our Christmas missive out at least by Labor Day.

I love objects that help to remind me of all the connections in my life (Either that, or I don't like to clean). These things keep me from seeing my stuff as merely utilitarian. Instead, stuff can be a part of the connecting threads of life (they also help to jog my failing memory).

Possession #52 - Medicine Cabinet

Yes, I actually have medicine in the medicine cabinet. My body is old and creaky and this stuff helps to alleviate some of the creaks. Some of you might be thinking that you have considerably more medications in your household ... well, this, indeed isn't all of our stuff. In fact, one of the most expensive things I pay for (along with my insurance) is a medication for my Crohn's Disease which doesn't sit in my medicine cabinet but must be taken via I.V. at the local hospital. I am incredibly thankful that I live in an age when modern medicine can so easily treat things that years ago might have killed me. And yet, there seems to be a dark side to a culture in which we we might rely a bit much on chemical cures for everything. Hopefull, we're all coming to a greater understanding of the complexity of life. Even as science delves deeper into the physical causes of things, the mystery of the human body intensifies. "We are fearfully and wonderfully made," says Psalm 139.

Possession #51 - Computer Modem

There was no post yesterday because my modem stopped working (like it does about every other year) and the snowstorm came. So I'm posting this possession on the last day that it will be in my house - tomorrow it goes the way of the Dodo Bird only to be replaced by a new frustrating piece of modern technology. Every now and then I need a technology meltdown so that I don't come to expect everything to come to me quite so instantly.

I read an article about a company that's spending $300 million to build a new transatlantic cable to shave 6 milliseconds from the present 65-millisecond transit time that it takes to send computer information between London and New York. Said one stock broker in the article, "The speed-of-light limitation is getting annoying." I hope I don't become so addicted to speed and flawless networking that I get frustrated by the slower-than-sludge speed of light. "Wait!" says that Psalms fairly regularly. Maybe they had the same problem of impatience even back when nothing moved faster than a camel. I'm working on it...as long as I can get this darn modem working!

Possession #50 - Picture frame

I purchased that picture frame right after I married the most wonderful woman in the world and now it sits on her dresser amid a variety of objects, most of which I did not purchase (although the perfume is not inexpensive and is frequently included in the Christmas stocking). I mention this because today is the birthday of the wonderful woman who wears the aptly named perfume. I suppose that both perfume and picture frames fit in that category of things which aren't very practical but often add much to one's life. I'm guessing that some of my favorite stuff roughly fits into this category, not mere flotsam and jetsam. Happy Birthday!

Possession #49 - Night Light

This one little thing has made a big difference in our lives. I can't count the number of nights our children slept better because of a night light in the room. It's kept a few toes from being stubbed, walls from being crashed into and facilitated late night trips to the bathroom without serious incident. We used to pack them on all family vacations.

I remember a few childhood fears of my own lurking in the darker regions of my bedroom. I little light goes a long way towards keeping the unknown at bay. Of course, darkness isn't always a bad thing. Mystery and the unknown are important parts of life, but at night when sleep is what we want, how ironic that sometimes it a little bit of light that helps us close our eyes to the world.

Possession #48 - Crystal Glasses

These are real crystal glasses with actual gold stuff on them. I don't think we've ever dared to use them. They come from my wife's aunt and look beautiful on the lighted shelf of our china cabinet - a piece of furniture designed to hold beautiful things that are never used.

I wouldn't say that I've ever been tempted to put plastic covers on the couch, but at times I verge on being overly obsessive about keeping stuff from breaking or even looking...well, used. I'm afraid that if we use an object for its intended purpose, it might in some way ruin it...what if something goes wrong! As I grow older, I'm trying to loosen up a bit. I don't have heart palpitations at every scratch in the table and I let the dog rub her slobbery nose on my carpet (OK, slight palpitations). A part of living is allowing yourself to actually live in your house instead of trying to simply save it for show. I don't know why I'm so paranoid about this since I've always had an aversion to other peoples' homes that look more like museums than actual places where people live. I'm trying hard to find the joy in all my stuff instead of just keeping it safe for a future that never seems to be quite here. I guess what I'm trying to say is...life is meant to be lived. The rest is just for show.