Downsizing

            We had a wonderful eight months, traveling and living in our 5^th wheel.  As we returned to our stick house in late October, we seriously considered selling the house and either:  1) living full-time in the RV, or 2) moving to a retirement community where we would live in a high-rise apartment house during the months we are in Colorado.  We have been living in 250 sq ft, more or less, for eight months.  The house was too large and we had too much space.  If we don't need something for 2/3 or the year, do we need it at all?  Or want it?

 

        By the time we reached Centennial, however, we knew we didn't want to go full-time.   Since it is important to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas here, where we have family and friends, it would mean wintering in the 5^th wheel.  We don't like staying in it when the temperature goes below freezing for any length of time.  That happens often during Colorado winters.

 

        About three weeks into our time in the house, we visited Heather Gardens, a community of townhouses, patio homes and condominiums for seniors.  We quickly realized we were not ready for apartment house living.  And it didn't make sense move into one of their patio homes.  Why go to all that work and spend money getting settled when we wouldn't really be downsizing?

 

        So, for now, the decision is to address all the "stuff" we have.  We are sorting, throwing out, preparing for a massive garage sale, giving things away.  If nothing else, it will make it easier to move to a small place, whenever we do decide to do that.  And we are amazed at how much we have we don't need.   

 

        The first thing we are cleaning out is paper—old financial records, kept way beyond what is necessary, excess items in John's work files.  Since we have the room, we didn't bother to weed through things.  We just kept it all.  This task will make it easier for us to find things.  And after going through all the files, we will know what we do have. 

 

        We are also going through the storage shelves in the basement, seeing what we can sell at a garage sale, what we can give away, what we can throw away.  We gave our son two sleeping bags that I made for us in the 1970s.  We haven't used them since we went on an overnight canoe trip in 20+ years ago.  "Build it and they will come."  For most of us, I think it is a matter of "give us space and we will fill it."  We're going to try to let a little air circulate in our space.

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