Stuff

This weekend while we were at our friends house on the coast we got to talking about what we would keep in our houses if we were offered a lot of money to sell our houses furnished. It was an interesting exercise to think about how attached we may or may not be to our stuff.  
Interestingly, both Russ and I said the same thing. We agreed that the only piece of furniture we would absolutely not want to sell was our dining room sideboard. Yes, it is probably our best antique, but when you think about it, it probably is not the most necessary thing we own. Many people are doing away with dining rooms. Our own child may never own a home where it will fit. It is much more formal than Russ usually likes. Without a big dining room table and a dozen chairs we would have no need for the sideboard. Despite all that we are attached to it.
Russ went on to add that he also would not sell my Morris Minor Traveler station wagon. This is very funny because it is stick shift and he does not drive it. I, on the other hand, would consider selling it if the price were right. The Morris is just a toy. We went to drive it the other day and it would not start which is very unusual for the little three cylinder car. We had to call our private British mechanic who makes house calls, Simon, who came over to it to get it working. The uncomplicated sewing machine of an engine usually doesn’t take much to fix. In fact I think I heard it start up in the garage just now not ten minutes into Simon’s touching it. Of course he usually works on Porsches so this is like Lincoln logs to him.
As I looked around my house the only other things I would not sell are my mother’s paintings. I know that someday I am going to have to pare down our belongings and I guess I am going to have to move into a house with no windows so I have enough wall space to hang my mother’s art. It will be a strange house. Lots of walls, no windows, a big dining room and garage and nothing else. Of course no one is going to come to my current house and want to buy it completely furnished so this dream is one I will never have to live out. I am happy to think that we are not so attached to stuff. It is a burden I don’t need to carry. I wonder if these imaginary people who want to buy our house fully furnished know about what’s in the attic?