A few weeks ago we did some spring cleaning, because that was what you did in spring.
Clear the drawer. Clear the pile. Eliminating the closet.
You will never hear the expression “clean autumn”. When the wind blows in winter, people rarely pick up. We would rather not break the extra sweat during the summer. Autumn is only for watching football, eucalyptus leaves, Halloween Costumes Outlet, Thanksgiving plates and Christmas shopping. There is no time to inventory inventory for the next auction.
By default, spring is forced to box, throw and give up. This is how amazing the loft can be collected. In our garage, we have almost everything – only one car.
Last year’s paint cans. Hand-handled garden tools. Outdated textbooks. Disused furniture. The remaining plumbing supplies. Sewing fabrics. antifreeze. Rarely used golf clubs.
I told Delinda that I would receive a phone call from the producer of the TV show Collectors any day.
However, in the pain of our spring cleaning, we found a hint of gold. An antique toy store is hidden in a box.
I will give my wife credit. I often criticize that she will never give up anything. This is when I’m glad she didn’t have time.
Our three sons have already surpassed their young toys. After they boarded the adolescent exit ramp, she began filling the storage containers with Brio train tracks, Fisher Price villains, plastic dinosaurs, Lincoln Logs and Tinker toys.
One day, she announced that we will have grandchildren.
Now we did it. Three of them.
We kept our grandfather in our home on Good Friday. That afternoon, we began to try to oversee the overwhelming task of approximately 98,317 items stored in the garage.
This may be the Easter weekend, but it feels like Christmas when I start pulling out the plastic box full of treasure. It’s as if Santa went to his neighbor on the way to spring break.
We rediscovered the Fisher Price schoolhouse, castle, parking lot, barn, castle and McDonald’s (with a playground). We wiped out the antique wooden blocks and the “Venice Denis” lunch box and survived at least three times.
Brewer became four years old in February. Stirling Gray will be 3 on the last day of July. They have a newborn little sister, Ginny Pope, who has 10 weeks. Although she is not old enough to bring out the doll, she is ready when she is ready.
It was always a pleasure to watch Brewer and Stirling Gray play with toys that covered their father’s and uncle’s fingerprints.
The company will not make toys that they have made in the past – without batteries, joysticks and microchips. When children spend most of their time playing outside, toys are driven by imagination. This is a different kind of “game.” You push them, roll them up and let them fly in the air. You invented your own voice and created the noise you expect them to make.
The only button is the knob on the Etch-a-Sketch. Remember to play dough and silly, Yo-Yos and Slinkys?
Those are classics. In this one-off society where we live, I feel comfortable, old and sentimental. Before vintage we were retro.
One day, Brewer followed me to the garage. He stood behind me and envied us how much we cleaned from the corners and shelves after the spring cleaning work.
“Gries,” he asked. “Can we find more toys?”
Ed Grisamore teaches journalism and creative writing at the Macon Stratford Academy. His column appears on the Sunday of the Daily Telegraph.
