23 Days

When I think of number 23, I always think of the famous Psalm, Psalm 23...

The Lord is my Shepherd
I shall not want....

It seems like we always want something. If we have everything we need, then we want what we don't need...and if we have even what we don't need, we want less. So wanting seems to be an all encompassing emotion that never goes away. That is, unless it's filled by the Shepherd.

As I busily clean my house tonight while preparing for an onslaught of house guests in the next 4 out of 6 weekends, I have decided what I want right now.

I want a clean house.

Well, it's not dirty...not really. It's just a bit unkempt. Too much stuff for my place. I've got 2 or 3 bedroom stuff for a 1 bedroom place. I need to work on that. Maybe when I hit my 40s I can get rid of the many things in my house that I simply don't use....you know, the trinkets you vow to put on display one day or the little craft my niece made for me when she was about 6 inches shorter than she is now....I'm a bit of a pack rat because I treasure these memories and gifts....but I wonder if people in their 40s really go through all that stuff they saved....I once envisioned I would sit around and go through old cards, photos, gifts and items....but since 40 isn't feeling that old, and when a person really is "that old" to sit around and do nothing but sift through memories, are they able to remember what those things were?

My grandmother has always told me to write on the back of photos. She said that you will vow never to forget where it was taken or who was in the photo, but as sure as she is 88 yrs old, she says you will forget those things. And I can attest to many times when the labels on the back of her photos jog her memory enough for her to recall those moments. And when a photo is blank, often times the memory is, too.

I think I'm going to start labeling photos. Oh wait, they are labeled. They are digital now, and they have dates, names and are even filed away nicely. But that means they are as tucked away as the trinkets and gifts in my house are....

Ok, then. It's time to start printing photos!!

End of ramble....23 days until I'm forty....