The Sale of the Century

Tomorrow I leave again for Pittsburgh. The estate sale at my dad's house is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, and I think I should be there instead of two thousand miles away. In addition to taking care of my dad and trying to make art, cleaning out the house in Upper St. Clair has been one of my major preoccupations over the past year. I calculated that I have spent at least seven working weeks there -- at first throwing away old magazines (thanks to Publishers Clearinghouse) and outdated food and medicine, giving away my mother's clothes (I found over 150 pairs of shoes in the house, mostly the same color and style), clearing out the upstairs so that my dad could navigate while he was living there, then finally sorting through all of the stuff my mother accumulated conscientiously during her life, specifically during the twenty or so years they lived in the house. The volume was mind-boggling and the sorting process difficult. Every decision was one of extremes: Do I get rid of it or pay to ship it to California and store it indefinitely? I could write a lot about this, but I think for now I'll just download a few photos.

The first load of garbage (November 2004) -- we put out around 70 bags, and that was just the beginning.


Here's a bit of relief -- a beautiful late spring dusting of snow last year.

I found my toys! (Where were they when Olivia was little?)

Michael buried in chaos, just last month.

Stash of empty boxes.