Ol’ Dutch and Miss Trixie are trying our hardest to get into the new house before leaving for our Colorado adventures in May. It's not been easy. I am not sure if it's our age or just the magnitude of the chore after 13 years together as we have accumulated quite the menagerie of stuff. 

And when I say menagerie it's probably closer to hoarding the way it looks around here. You all know that Miss Trixie is a product of her Momma and that woman never let a good deal pass her by in all her long years on this earth. And that was before the advent of the Internet and the various marketplaces online that let a person peruse virtually everything that anyone in the world has for sale or for free. 

And Miss Trixie has some magical fingers on that smart phone of hers, let me tell you what. She can find anything, anywhere and usually for a good price – and often free – if left to her devices. So, we have lots of “stuff” in the camper, barn and shed to sort through.  

And it is hard for me to critique her on this as Ol’ Dutch has a barn full of stuff himself that is breeding like rabbits as we speak. So, there is that. Anyway, we are in the process of trying to decide what goes in the new house and what doesn't and therein is the problem. 

It appears that Ol’ Dutch did not allow for enough storage in the house to satisfy Miss Trixie as she wants to store “everything” within reach of her piano playing fingers. Ol’ Dutch on the other hand wants to have minimal things in the new house and be able to walk around without tripping over something in the way. So, we have had quite a few “rhubarbs” or what some people call “fights” as we try and get a consensus of what is necessary and what is fluff. 

I think the hardest thing to part with is old clothes as not a one of us humans like to part with what we call “the thin clothes” that we have stored away. You know the kind? Those are the clothes dating back to high school body sizes that we have kept just hoping against hope to someday fit back into them again. 

And it appears that we have those in quantities that would make the local thrift store pale in comparison. Now, I am not saying that a person should not have goals in life or that keeping them around is horrible, but it does lend to the thoughts that maybe, just maybe, we are delusional in our honesty to ourselves. 

To be perfectly honest, I don't think I am quite ready to give up on the thin clothes quite yet as sometimes old men shrivel up and maybe there is hope yet for Ol’ Dutch. But I do have a huge collection of shirts with stains from working on the house and they are headed to the trash bin albeit not before a sojourn in the rag pile. 

So, you see, even when I agree to getting rid of things, I still am able to keep them around for one last hurrah before they go into the burn pit. There is, though, a reduction in “stuff” that won't make it to the new house but will be in the way down at the barn until such time as I burn some trash, and they can make their way into that barrel. 

I guess all that means we are keeping both our “fat clothes” and our “skinny clothes,” for now or at least some pajama sets as the Walmart frowns on nudity in the aisles but still allow PJ’s as a dress code. Now, to just find out what we are going to do with the 493 boxes of books that Miss Trixie has in storage.  

Kevin Kirkpatrick spends his days fishing, hunting, ATVing, hiking or making people laugh. His email is Kevin@TroutRepublic.com. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.