"Before there was central heat and air we kept quilt boxes," she explained. "You cleaned and pressed the quilts when the weather got warm. You folded them and put them in the quilt box, ready for next winter. Then you could use the quilt box as a seat when you had company. Everyone kept quilts. You can't imagine how cold it got."
Under and among the stacks and piles of everything, he had two large quilt boxes in the garage, full of things someone had decided to save years ago. Most of those things were worn out now, rotten or obsolete, forgotten in the distraction of trying to stay alive.
It was probably a hundred and five degrees in that old garage this weekend, and we were all too tired and sweaty and dirty for sentiment. Small, audacious trees grew here and there up through cracks in the concrete foundation. Green vines snaked through the exposed rafters, invading through the eaves. Around the base of the open stud walls the wood siding had rotted away in spots, giant holes granting admittance to invaders of various species. Everywhere was dirt and cottony spider egg sacks and rodent droppings. There was a desiccated squirrel carcass under the workbench. Rats had been nesting in old rags under the larger quilt box.
Of course, there were treasures scattered among the trash. A Polaroid camera, older than any of us can guess. Look magazines from the 1960s with various Kennedys on the covers and advertisements that make my children laugh. "Try a little sugar in your coffee or tea. Sugar works with your Appestat to promote weight loss." His old uniform from Korea, moldering away in the disintegrating remains of a plastic garment bag. An Elvis LP. Pictures and newspaper clippings. Evidence of having been young stacked deeply under evidence of having grown old. Six truckloads to the trash and recycling drop site. Three truckloads to the garage of the new house.
The heat was almost more than we could bear, and the grime almost more than we could stomach, but we got it done. How could we, so young and so overwhelmed with heat, fathom the need for something like a quilt box in a place like this?
"In the winter we got cold, even in the house," she explained. "There was no central heating, so we used quilts. You can't imagine how cold it got."
Hello, friends. How are you today?
Later. Love.
