Friday Report

Travis, a delicate flower in his own right

It's Friday afternoon, or, more to the point, early evening (5:25). Outside the trees and the roads and the sidewalks are slick with ice after a lovely afternoon storm that sent down sheets of sleet. Fortunately, the storm seems to have passed, and with any luck it will warm up enough tomorrow to melt the mess away. Nonetheless, I rescheduled my 10 a.m. hair appointment, because who are we kidding? I am a southern weenie who spent four years in Massachusetts refusing to drive in snow. I do not get in my car if there's the chance I might skid four or five inches on a slick spot. I refuse.

Anyhoo.

My efforts to purge continue ... and I have found the most wonderful way to get rid of stuff! Have you ever heard of freecycling? This is where you offer stuff you don't need anymore to an online group (to find one near you, go here), and if someone wants it, they email you and you arrange to leave it out for them to pick up. All sorts of things are offered on the Freecycle Durham listserv, including, today, an opened box of Celestial Seasons herbal tea. Which, by the way, got claimed almost immediately!

The great thing about freecycling is you can say, "Listen, I've got a big box of Legos and Duplos and what-have-you-o's, and they're all in a big jumble and I don't have any sort of instructions for putting them together and at some point my then-four year old drew on most of them with magic markers; do you want 'em?" And as far as I can tell, someone always wants them.

Yesterday, I decided to put my toe in. I'd joined our local freecycle group a couple of weeks ago and had been standing on the sidelines, seeing how it all worked. And then yesterday, vacuuming the Man's study, I noticed the bag of fancy deluxe gourmet dog treats my mother-in-law gave Travis for Christmas. Now, it was lovely of her to think of him, but the fact is, Travis does best on a simple diet. If you get too fancy on him, his stomach rebels and then there you are, googling "how to keep dog vomit from staining your carpet."

So I decided to freecycle the doggie treats--and, Reader, it worked! I posted my offer around 4 p.m., and by 7 p.m. I had two takers. I emailed the first responder and we made arrangements for the pick-up. Then I put the treats in a Target bag and hung them from the rosemary bush by my mailbox. This afternoon I received an email that the responder had in fact picked them (I haven't ventured outside since the ice started falling at 2, so I had no idea). Done deal!

Freecycling, my friends, is going to be the answer to my attic prayers. All those doods and dads I would never take to Good Will because what on earth would Good Will do with them? Freecycle! The box of craft supplies (including four HUGE jars of glitter) from when I used to teach Sunday school? Freecycle!

It makes me happy that someone came up with this great idea--Freecycle!--and that it works and that we can find new homes for our old stuff. And it reminds me that stuff I might not find valuable (HUGE jars of glitter) might come in very handy to someone else. It's good to ask, right?

Have a great weekend! Stay warm! Or cool!