The Domino Effect

Did you ever decide to clean out something? Well, that's a silly question, but think about it for a minute...

Today I put away almost all the holiday decorations. I know, it's not nearly the 7th, but I wanted to get a head start. The tree will stay up until the 6th, because that's just a tradition, but everything else is back on the shelves. That's a rather satisfying accomplishment, I think.

I can't exactly remember what started it all this morning...oh, yeah...my new Dutch oven needed a home. Now, if you'll recall, this thing is BIG...well, chicken-size. So, I decided to clean out a spot in the appliance closet. The area used to be a coat closet, but we already had places for coats, so, many years ago, my sweet honey added several shelves, and now it's a space for small kitchen appliances. Anyway, I moved out some stuff to make room for the dish, and then realized I didn't have places for the stuff I moved.

Now we get to the domino effect. In order to make the appliance closet functional, I had to move some things to the cabinets under the kitchen island. In order to do THAT...well, you see where several hours of my day went. I ended up with most of my kitchen spread out on the floor, and more than once I looked around and wondered whatever possessed me to start this task. As I made up my mind to put certain things in one place, I realized I had to empty said place and put those things somewhere else.

It's as if we moved. Not many things are where they used to be, but things are better sorted, at least I think they are. And it's my kitchen, right? I have a baking section, a prep section, a spice cabinet (two, actually, and the spice jars are in alphabetical order,) a tea cabinet (two, actually...see previous note,) and, surprisingly, a place for actual dishes and glasses. I thought about making an inventory list of where everything is and posting it somewhere so I can have a reference when I need some obscure item that's not where it had been for fifteen years. But then again, I thought the element of surprise would be a nice touch, too.

So, when it's bread-baking day, I can find my grain mill and bread machine, when I want tea, everything is together, and the coriander seeds are in front of the red pepper flakes. As Einstein says, "Out of clutter, find simplicity."

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the things that won't go back in the cabinets. Anyone need a hand-juicer?