Two Storage Tubs...

My friend Leigh posed this idea to me, and it seemed like a really good notion for assessing what is actually important to me. It's actually played like something of a game, but it goes a bit like this: Say that somebody who is FABULOUSLY wealthy falls madly in love with you (and of course, you with them... otherwise the game makes no sense :p). Said person desperately wants you to come and live with them, but you can only bring 2 rubbermaid storage tubs of your stuff with you; what do you bring? Of course, anything you need can be bought when you arrive at your destination on the other side of the world, but what things are important enough that you actually need to bring them? So this is what I decided:



I'm reasonably certain if I bare-root packed all of my plants, I could get them into a single storage tub... well, most of them anyways. Now don't run away with some foolish notion that this is all of my plants... or even most of them... or even half of them. But yea, I'm pretty sure I could do it. They'd be packed into one tub so tightly they wouldn't even need any packing material. :)



This is Melville. He's a jewish moose who dreams of one day growing up to become a tiger. I got Melville at one of the hardest points in my life and he's been with me ever since. He also has a friend, Coco the Gorilla, that would have to come as well... but she's camera shy. Well, Coco likes my regular camera but didn't really show up at all with the camera on my phone (my real camera is dead... and I didn't feel like going to the store to get new batteries).



An ex-coworker of mine did this painting for me, an oil on canvas painting of a bonded pair of Great Indian Hornbills. I really like this painting, since it was made based on a pair of birds I actually work with; the painting itself seems to have a sense of life I haven't really seen in other artwork.



Now we start with a bit of Grandma's stuff. I inherited a pretty substantial elephant collection (she absolutely loved them), especially considering then mom and I got grandma elephants at every possible opportunity; these ones are special. The brass elephants are ones that my mother got my grandma long ago, and I would actually play with them as a kid; rearranging them, imaginatively coming up with stories as to where they were going. The carved soapstone elephants are actually the last ones I ever got my grandmother, got them for her birthday almost 2 years ago. I wouldn't go anywhere without these elephants.



This was Grandma's crucifix, from around the 1930's. It currently sits over my bed.



There are a couple things in this picture that would have to come with me, and again, both belonging to grandma. First, the pink vase in the background. I realize that it's not particularly hard to do and that I'm pretty good with plants, but every bit of ivy I put to root in that vase takes off and thrives. I also have Irish Crystal glasses that are very important. When I was a kid we would order chinese food, drink Sprite out of those glasses and feel fancy. It's not included in this picture or in the plant picture above, but I also still have the ivy my grandmother grew in an olive oil bottle for me... needless to say, that would come too.

So there you have it, those are the things that are important to me. Oh, it should go without saying that you get to take any pets you have with you, Leigh determined that to be part of the rules since she was not going to go anywhere without her animals and I must say I am very happy with that since Reptar (my iguana) is not particularly fond of other people. So there you have it... why not take the time to contemplate what is particularly important to you. What would you take if you only had two storage tubs?