“A box without hinges, key or lid, yet golden treasures inside is hid.”
All I have to rely on is my memory of the sun. It was here for a short time yesterday then the clouds took over the sky. It is raining now. I can hear it falling on the roof and that was the first sound I heard when I woke up. It will be in the mid-40’s today and will probably stay rainy. I have a couple of errands including the dump. This is the second time in a row it has rained on dump day. I’d wait until a better day, but the dump will close today and won’t open again until Thursday.
I have a pile of boxes ready for the dump recycle bin. Most of them are small. They have been coming all week as I have ordered all sorts of stuff from all sorts of places. Some stuff is for Easter while other stuff is for Christmas and one is for me, a new shirt bought at an end to winter sale.
I remember when boxes were as much fun as any toy. Big boxes from appliances became forts or hideouts. We’d bring pillows, a flashlight and a few provisions inside and stay in our fort all afternoon. We’d make a window with a three quarter cut on the side. It was the perfect spot from which to keep watch. Sometimes I’d even decorate and use crayons to make curtains. For some reason they were always red.
Shoe boxes were the best of all. They held treasures and were hidden away, usually under the bed. I remember one of mine held those two Scotties, the black and the white ones, which were magnets. I used to put the dogs’ noses together so they’d repel each other. Shells gathered on a summer afternoon at the beach were in the box and so was a starfish and smooth flat stones. Marbles sometimes made it. My favorites were the clear ones with colored pieces in the middle which always sort of looked like parts of a feather. Birthday cards, pins and CrackerJack’s prizes were also in the box. Most times stuff was added and seldom removed. Often, I’d pull the box out from under the bed then sit on the bed and lovingly take my treasures out of the box one by one. I always thought them treasures of great measure.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: boxes, forts, hideouts, marbles, memory, prizes, rain, shells, shoe boxes, stuff, sun, treasures
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February 25, 2018 at 11:57 am
A refrigerator box is what I hoped I wouldn’t be living in during my golden years. 🙂 I was surprised that our new refrigerator didn’t come in a cardboard box. Shoe boxes are wonderful places to store almost anything that is small enough to get lost. I used to store photos in them but they are now digital. I store receipts and other papers that aren’t available on line in them. I’m not a fashion freak and I only own two pairs of shoes. I own a pair of work dress shoes from Rockport and a pair of cross trainer shoes frame New Balance for the weekends. When they begin to wear out or fall apart, I replace them. Luckily my spouse is not a shoe freak and only owns a few pairs mostly slip ons or flip flops. 🙂
I once had the idea of scanning every piece of paper I touched. However, scanning in everything is a slow process and requires a scientific naming system to be able to find the scan. Next to indoor plumbing I appreciate having a dumpster just across the street from my condo. Having to drive my garbage to the dump would be a royal pain in the rear. 🙁
Today reminds me of the Beetles song, Here Comes the Sun. We haven’t seen it in over a week.
February 25, 2018 at 3:09 pm
Bob,
I’m surprised too that it didn’t arrive in a box. The other day I saw three or four appliance boxes at the end of the driveway at a house being built.
I have more shoes than that. All summer I wear sandals, but now I’m wearing shoes. I have a couple of pairs of dress-up shoes for special occasions and Im have some sneakers in great colors.
Driving to the dump is no big deal. I combine it with other errands and treat myself to a donut and coffee afterwards.
We saw the sun for a couple of hours yesterday, and that has also been it for a week.
February 25, 2018 at 4:46 pm
I was surprised also but the fridge was on the truck sans box. The delivery men were basically clueless. They complained that they had to carry it upstairs and tried to do it without a dolly. Even I know that’s dumb. Getting it in the door they dented the side and I got Lowe’s to refund me 15% rather than have the same two geniuses deliver another fridge and damage it worse than this one. Once they got it in my kitchen they complained that they couldn’t hookup the ice maker because the dishwasher is between the sink and the fridge. They brought a waterline and tools but I wasn’t going to let these two under my sink with a wrench. I had a plumber run the waterline the day before and they only had to screw in the line. So much for service from Lowe’s.
February 25, 2018 at 5:10 pm
Bob,
There is no Lowe’s on Cape but there is one just over the bridge. I bought my last fridge from Sears, and the delivery was perfect.
I never could understand why some stores had incompetent staff delivering or fixing anything. That happened when the first guy didn’t fix my furnace. He never followed thorough on any thing. I was going to give a negative review on Yelp when I got the bill. I still haven’t gotten it, and it has been two months.
February 25, 2018 at 6:40 pm
Unfortunately, Sears may be on the verge of extinction. After visiting both Lowe’s and Home Depot to pick out what we liked and would fit we purchased it online. My kitchen and the space for the fridge is small. In 1961, when this place was built, there were no huge Stainess Steel French Door refrigerators. We measured and it just fits. We have an ice maker but no water through the door.
February 25, 2018 at 10:45 pm
Bob,
My fridge is stainless but I too had to make concessions.The water is outside but the ice is inside. The space was too small for both on the outside.
February 25, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Sunny and cold here today. We had sunshine on one side of the cottage and snowfall on the other side for a while. I have no idea where the snow came from though, perhaps it was the kind that always continues and never seems to land anywhere 🙂
Those big boxes were rare and I always felt a bit rich when I got hold of one 🙂 It was the castle of an entire kingdom but never lasted for long 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
February 25, 2018 at 3:13 pm
Christer,
We have had a really ugly day today. It is still rainy, and it is still cold. I hate to go out, but I must and will go as soon as I finish here.
I also loved boxes and made them castles. I never brought mine outside so it lasted a long time.
Have a wonderful evening!
February 25, 2018 at 6:54 pm
Hi Kat,
I never played with boxes that I can recall. Probably because we never got things in giant boxes and if I needed a fort, I had the attic in the garage.
Shoe boxes, on the other hand, are wonderful things in which to store stuff. For a long time I had one shoe box that held my two “teenager” dolls and all the clothes I made for them. It might still be around here somewhere but I haven’t seen it recently so maybe not. I was rummaging around on the porch the other day and found a shoe box full of Fimo clay craft supplies. I haven’t done Fimo clay in years. The best tool in there was a pathologist’s tissue sampling blade. I’ll keep that. Handy thing to have. 😀
Today was lousy weather. The dampness was the kind that gets into the bones. It rained almost all day only stopping an hour ago or so. I had errands, too so out I went. I just did the pharmacy one and gave up. I wanted to be warm and snug inside.
Enjoy the evening.
February 25, 2018 at 10:40 pm
Hi Caryn,
I just got home, and it is still pretty wet though the rain has stopped. There was so much rain today some of the streets have gigantic puddles. We have had rain just about every day for a week.
I used shoe boxes for my treasures. I also stored photos in mine. The boxes disappeared somewhere in time. I think it may have been when my family moved to Stoneham when I was in Ghana. They didn’t know what of mine to save so lots got trashed. I didn’t miss anything so I guess they chose well.
Have a great day!