Monday June 2 2025

Can you believe it! It's already June, marking the beginning of Summer (or the end of fall), it's finally warm enough that wearing a jacket is optional. Here in Canada we have to brave harsh weather year round, so when it is at least not below freezing out we really take the opportunity to get out and live!

Yard work, taking out garbage, sorting recycling, all much easier when there isn't snow and ice everywhere. Vehicles don't need to be warmed up, sidewalks don't need to be shovelled. Your toque and gloves get taken out of jacket pockets and lost over the summer, find a proper place for those things! My goal over the past few months has been 'spring cleaning' to get my place organized.

Before visitors arrive and take over my living room again, I have been making efforts to destroy my 'doom boxes', belongings that have been sitting in boxes for years. I want to reclaim my space, and make my living room a place I use for living and not storing things. The urge to re-arrange is stronger than my desire to downsize but I know it must be done. Only by actually getting rid of things will progress be made. So I create a feeling of urgency, and attack a box, that is the only way.

I heard this term, doom box. And then to my horror I realized, I was surrounded by them. Once the elephant in the room was named, and I understood what it was, my perspective changed. Recognizing the habit is important, don't underestimate the psychological impact of self-awareness.

Recognizing a pattern and then doing something about it is not so easy. One box has camping supplies that I bought and hoped to use again, another is filled with books and binders from years ago. Some are old textbooks from studies long ago, and others filled with very important things that were all collected together for safekeeping. What their final resting place will be, hopefully not the trash, but eventually when I am long gone they will probably be. How do we think about letting go?

We spend the first part of our life striving to acquire things; both ideas and belongings, clothing and toys. But in a fire, what do we get first? As I watch images of places burning we feel so much loss. Both from forest fires, and all the random arson that seems to be occurring. There was a dumpster fire yesterday near the grocery store in my city, wtf! It looked like the building was catching on fire also, but our fire responders were able to put it out. The day before, a multi-family unit was engulfed in flame, the whole backyard was on fire too and I drove past to survey the damage myself.

The entire four unit townhouse was charred, backyards and building burnt to a crisp. The next building over seemed ok, but I thought to myself how much the smoke and heat would have impacted them and whether the occupants remained. We cannot be so careless to play with fire and not standby without a fire extinguisher of our own. This world we live in can always change in a moment. Gather together all your belongings and take an account of what you have.

At the beginning of the month it is also time to put out fires before they grow-- pay bills, check notices, address problems early before they become big. Prepare, prepare, prepare, we Scouts say.

Mount Etna erupted and the cone collapsed, last night. On May 28 the whole town of Blatten Switzerland was buried by a glacier collapse! The world around us, much like ourselves, is in constant change! What risks are there in your area; from nature, from mankind, or from folly?

Life is short but life is also longer than we think. Humans have to work together, but we should strive to be as strong and independent as possible. I have been auditing all my expenses, balancing my budget, and paying off my credit card. Next I will audit my laundry, starting with my entire closet. I will rid myself of all the old clothes, so then I can buy new suits, shirts and pair of shoes.

The Rodeo is also coming up this month, so decluttering now is part of that commitment. I will only be home enough to sleep for the whole last week of June, so whatever I need to do must be done before then. Looking at the calendar, I only have about two weeks. It's work, but also like vacation when you think you get to relax but it's a lot of effort! So I just will say, I am excited for the Rodeo!

Enjoy the summer, while it is here. Go outside and walk to the park! Invite some friends to eat snacks by the lake. Take your kids to get some ice cream for no reason other than its hot out! Live now!!

Six months, until December. We have to prepare, because it will be winter by then. 2026 is not far.

@Darkflame