Junk drawers...

I’m the type of person who loves junk drawers. You know, the drawer that “catches” all the stuff you really don’t know what to do with at the time, but you know it will come in handy some day. I am a proud owner of junk drawers. Yes, drawers, plural!

Recently we were getting ready to remodel and it was time to go through and sort my “junk”. I think this task is almost as exciting as going on a treasure hunt. You never know for sure what you will find!

My junk drawer had the perfunctory items, rolls of duct tape, masking tape, painters tape, electrical tape, scotch tape, and any other variety of tape indicative of the region where we live. Then there were rubber bands, paper clips, tacks… the normal stuff. But there were also things like spare washers, screws of various sizes, velcro, magnets, little screwdrivers; the list goes on and on.

As I sorted through, I thought maybe I should just dump the drawer into the trash. After all, some of the items had not become necessary for anything for quite a while, and my time might be better spent tending to other things. Just as I stepped toward the trashcan, my husband asked for a small screw to fix something. I thought I heard angels singing as I looked into the drawer. There amidst the plethora of “junk”, as if light were reflecting off its surface, was the exact size and shaped screw. It was as though the items in the drawer were shouting, “You need us, you really, really need us!”

I finished sorting the drawer, mainly to refresh my memory of all that it contained. I could not bring myself to throw much away. After all, each item could be vital to solving a future calamity.

So go forth and cherish your junk drawer. Put all the things that you are not sure what to do with today in it for tomorrow. If you find you need to create a second, do so. I am sure that there has to be a culture somewhere that your wealth is determined by the number of junk drawers one has. In that case, I would be revered as a very wealthy woman!