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June 15, 2022: Abundance

The next book that I’m going to write is going to be about the subject of abundance, and how in this country we take it for granted. It also raises the bigger question at times, what in f@#$% do you do with it?

I have been dealing mainly with books, and the sheer number of them. Now I’m looking around a bit more. My book will be about book-related abundance, but at the same time also about other forms of abundance.

I thought about this some today, as our neighbor Jim’s three sisters and his one brother have been attempting to part out the contents of his house and property. It has turned out to be a huge job because Jim hung onto near everything. I don’t think that he hoarded for the sake of hoarding. I think that he hoarded because he feared being without.


We have an abundance of buckets


Without clothing, food, beer, building supplies, camping goods, canned goods, you name it, he might have had it.

The three sisters and one brother are each dealing in their own way with the loss of their sibling. But what’s making it hard for them is that they are dismantling their brother’s place, and in the process, they’re dealing with his self-history. It’s a slow painful process for all four. They begin their short days of work with considerable enthusiasm but end feeling drained and sorrowful.

Today I found them under the house, a four-foot-high crawl space. Pat and Lori had filled the truck with glass jars and bottles. They presumed that they’d be taking the glass to the Palmer Recycling Center. I told Lori that the Palmer Recycling Center didn’t take glass, that they’d instead have to take the glass to the Anchorage recycling center. There was momentary confusion as Pat and Lori attempted to figure out what became a secondary plan, which was to take the jars and such to Anchorage.

They all seem to handle like-stuck points fairly well. They had a huge dumpster on site when I got there. This was a wise idea. I’d thought that they would be taking truckload upon truckload to the dump.

I went for a walk with Louise, and we talked about our disreputable neighbors, many of whom had come scrounging, hoping to get a good deal. The denizens included one who said that he’d like to buy the place and Jim’s possessions, sight unseen.

Pete later echoed what I told her, which was to say how was it that someone who couldn’t afford to pay their taxes could afford to pay for a house and six acres of property?

There was an auctioneer and his daughter on site – very cool individuals – the auctioneer ended up paying for Jim’s weed – just a nice gesture. It’s important to give as well as receive. I think that what bothers me is that some don’t reciprocate.

Me, I got some more perennials – I think that Jim would be glad I did this. And already, the bird bath has brought me great joy. It’s in the middle of the backyard.

We ended the workday by drinking some of Jim’s champagne – he had more than a case on hand. Ahh, a toast to abundance.

Next: 164. 6/16/22: Raudi’s Blog

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