A Wandrin Visitor

Edition #59 — July 31, 2004

First of all, I'd like to wish Lloyd T. a happy Birthday. Lloyd is a professional gent from Colorado who has taken to the gypsy lifestyle post retirement, travelling North America in his "fifth wheel" custom trailer and pickup truck. He made a stop at my home on Thursday on his way to Canada's east coast and so we spent the day talking about "weird" stuff — reality by any other name.

Lloyd and I "met" a few years ago via my Realitycheckers.com guestbook. He was tracking down "Kriewaldts" on the internet for his children who are part Kriewaldt from their mother's side. According to Lloyd, there was a whole nest of us Kriewaldts that arose from a region of Germany that is now Poland. Before that...who knows. Mars perhaps?

Lloyd has been on my newsletter mailing list almost from the start and he also maintains his own travelogue website at www.wandrin.us — he takes some great pictures, and is an expert baking goods tracker specializing in cinammon rolls.

(It was a pleasure meeting you Lloyd! I'm sure we'll meet again.)

Letting Go Of Just A Little More

Every two years or so I feel a certain compulsion to clean and organize my living space forensically. Another way to put that is that I've gained some more courage to throw out the junk that I've been clinging to, some of it since childhood.

I'm sure everybody's got their special closet, attic, garage or basement hideaway; a place where one stores things that we can't part with emotionally, but in reality have no more use for. It's very symbolic, really, if you look at it from a psychological level.

But let's not...right now.

Some of my cleanups are instigated by the curiosity factor: "what's in that box?" I'll think, and the next thing you know I'll be digging through it and finding t-shirts so small they wouldn't fit my cat. But hey — they've got an Aerosmith or Kiss logo on them, so they might become important cultural relics should my dream of a "Kriewaldt Museum of Unnatural History" ever be realized. But that's not why I hold on.

Sometimes my cleanups are initiated as part of my search for more living room. Ever since I added a vocal booth to my bedroom I've been looking to streamline my living area. Many people still don't realize it intellectually, but it's so important to have a good "flow" in your home or working space. It's that whole Feng Shui thing: if you're surrounded by clutter, your brain and emotions get cluttered. Or sometimes it's the other way around too: cluttered brain equals cluttered environment.

All I know is that I think I've found my optimum set-up now. There's not too much Feng, and just enough Shui! (I'm just playing here). But last year I didn't have this new order of things envisioned. Neither did I envision last year that I would be able to guiltlessly throw out some more stuff from my past that was lingering around and just taking up valuable space in my life as I live it today. Lets face it, when would I ever put on a t-shirt that I wore twenty years ago?

I'm not quite clear of all my obstacles yet, but I'm slowly moving them out of the way. I've also been trying to convince my parents over the years to rethink their own hunting, gathering and storing strategies. They are master hoarders, especially my father, who seems to have a plan for every empty glass jar or plastic container that comes from the grocery store. I know he grew up having to flee his home as a child, travelling to West Germany with his Mother and my old great Grandma, Martha Kriewaldt. I suppose experiences like those make you hold on a little tighter to whatever comes your way.

Perhaps then, my hoarding problem is genetic. Ah, but to hell with genetics: I am "rising above my raising" as the Texans say. And so another bag goes out to the curb. The t-shirts? I've given them up for adoption — hopefully to someone who'll fit into them.

Remember, it's never too late to get rid of everything!!! Long as you've got yourself, you'll be okay.

Which brings me full circle: once again: Happy Birthday, Lloyd!

Roland Kriewaldt


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