I've been lurking here. Seems I'm just not a journaler. LOL, when we travelled, I'd carry a camera but it was the kids who took most of the pictures.

I'm still sorting and divesting stuff from family - there's just no end to it. Two yardsales so far (they're so easy here - no permits or anything, just a note on craigslist and a sign at the end of the street), and there should be a dozen more, but I probably won't have the energy for that. I keep having to stop and sort/read through the boxes. One of the latest is a trunk from my grandmother - a pile of unlabelled photos of presumed ancestors (some obscure connection to PEI Canada that I can't quite figure out), newspaper clippings from the Sunday Boston Post, 1901-1916, with fancy fonts and designs for embroidery - fashion spreads on the other sides), a collarless shirt, boxer shorts with buttons removed and some of the seams ripped (??for quilts?? they're all a fine cotton in blue stripes of various sorts on white. She was married in 1908. Maybe grampa gained weight and they needed recycling??), and a postcard collection, 1901-1926. Some of the postcards were addressed to her father ("give them to her - she collects postcards"). Brother George spent sinme time in Passaic, NJ, and sent a card home every midweek - "Dear Father, I am fine. The weather is good. I will send a letter and papers (??) this weekend. Your Son, George." Must be 20 of them, so there's a good look at NJ in the early 20s for anyone who wants it, with a few of NYC thrown in. My very favorite postcard was sent in this city and read "Let's get together to sing tonight." Dated and stamped 1901. I'm trying to imagine this world - no telephones, but a postal system that is so reliable that you can send a postcard in the morning and expect a meeting that evening - was there more than one delivery a day? Did they know the postal route? Nashua was a city with several factories then, and apparently worked better in some ways than it does now. My grandmother was 15 in 1901. I vaguely remember something about the children coming to Nashua so they could go to high school.

So, the ancient newspapers, ancestors, and ripped underwear are sititing in small piles, being contemplated. The collarless shirt is in the yardsale items (didn't sell this week) and the postcards went for $40 to a fleamarket dealer who will easily double his money. The newspapers are so fragile I'm afraid to put them out into the sun and wind. Maybe a note in craigslist, offering them for decoupage?? I don't know, but it seems such a shame to send them to landfill (or recycling) after all this time.