This is the pantry in my Mom’s basement at about 9:30 this morning and again at about 11. My Mom, sister and I went through all the stuff on these shelves and filled the back of my brother-in-law’s pickup with expired canned goods, pasta and flour. My father had apparently spent the last fifteen years either preparing for the End Times or unable to prevent himself from resisting a good sale. He’d filled four steel trashcans with flour, pasta, rice, and beans, and we had to go through it all and get it cleaned out.

After lunch we started in on the tools and worked our way around the back side of the basement. By the end of the day, we’d dropped off a pile of stuff at the goodwill and built a huge pile of stuff to be sold on Craigslist. There is a ton more to be done down there, but having the first part done is a great feeling.