Your Trash My Treasure

Published: Fri, 07/18/14

Hello ,

Smoke filled the air in my neighborhood most of today, as wild fires burn closer to home this week. Nearly one-thousand homes have been evacuated in central eastern Washington. For more on the fires....

Should it stay, or should it go?

One reason for this blog is to inspire you with stories about people with great courage. But sometimes what can really make your day is hearing about other people's foibles. So, read on and take heart.

With PURE GRIT well-launched into the world, I was ready dive into my next book project. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the top of my desk.

It seemed like a great time to clean and organize my writing space. It was either that, or call the producers of the popular TV documentary Hoarders. I seem to have inherited the packrat gene, which runs rampant in some branches of my family tree.

After clearing the desk and the floor and boxing up research materials, I decided to clean out my filing cabinet. It felt really good to see the recycling pile growing, but it was not easy for me to decide what to keep and what to throw away.

For instance, I found a bunch of random stuff in a file labeled clippings:

A 2004 article about the national Take Back Your Time movement featured a photo of a Motorola mobile phone that would practically fill a shoe box. The phone was definitely out of date, but the TBYT movement? Probably need that more than ever.

Can't remember why I saved the local newspaper clipping entitled Scraping by about the American automobile industry's failure to design a feature that clears ice off vehicle windshields. After interviewing auto parts engineers, researchers, a Ford spokeswoman and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD, the best advice this reporter got was, a VISA card works pretty well.

The article was written by Jess Walter, a National Book Award Finalist and author of several New York Times Bestsellers including the recent BEAUTIFUL RUINS. But when this particular newspaper went to print, Jess was merely a staff writer. I must have recognized his budding talent.

Also in the clippings file: an envelope containing the beautiful, golden brown strands from my daughter's first haircut. I'll be keeping that one. Go ahead, call Hoarders. They'll have to pry this from my cold, dead fingers.

That and the Certificate of Merit for Mary Cronk representing Gonzaga University in a distinguished manner at the Miss Drill Team USA Pageant. Some things you simply must hang on to for posterity.

I'm still a little iffy on whether to save the resume I found that I actually typed on a typewriter. My name at the top in large fancy fonts was not typed, however. Kids, this was back in the day when if you needed professional-looking, over-sized fonts, you went down to the office supply store and purchased a packet of letter and number transfers. You carefully assembled and aligned the letters of your name at the top of the final copy of your resume and rubbed the back with a pencil transferring them to the paper. Sort of like those fake tattoos you get now, but without the water.

It was much easier throwing out stuff from the parenting files, since my husband and I have been empty-nesters for almost two years now. I no longer need these articles: Fun Foods that make Nutritional Sense, Mom's Quest for Quiet Time, Why Kids Whine and How to Stop Them...and If You Dare Mess up This House: Moms & Perfectionism. Hmmm. Must have saved that last one to pass along to someone else.

Reaching the end of the parenting files, I came upon the folder from a long ago child birthing class: Normal Labor in a Nutshell.

Right.

My most recent labor and delivery was 21-years ago, and it's possible I've entered one long, never-ending senior moment, but my best inkling is that not even a single second of childbirth could be contained in a nutshell. But at some point that was wisdom worth tucking away for later use.

This cleaning sweep marks the end of an era for me. It's exciting to see space for something new, and I'm sure I'll have no trouble filling up the file cabinet.

News and Links

Literary Features Syndicate provides concise and timely reviews of the best new books for children, plus interviews and noteworthy news in the world of books. Click here for their video review of PURE GRIT and MISS EMILY two new non-fiction book on female leaders.

Thanks to everyone who wrote last week, it means a lot to me to hear from you. One reader wrote to tell me about the Pioneer Museum in Gunnison, CO, which includes a small exhibit on the American nurses who served in the Philippines in WWII. It features one of the primary women in PURE GRIT, Josephine May "Josie" Nesbit, a Colorado native.

Questions? Comments? Anything about his newsletter or books you're currently reading, let me know. Remember, to contact me, just hit reply.

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If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of PURE GRIT, here's the place!

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To find out more about my books, how I help students, teacher and librarians, visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com.

My best,

Mary

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