Lofty ambitions

Our oversees travel plans had to be postponed for a second year running. The routine of spending the week in Cape Town and the weekend at Towerwater has been turned on its head. With me working from home three days a week, we can spend five days at Towerwater and two days at Elmwood.

Trips to Cape Town serve as an opportunity to buy items that are not readily available in Bonnievale and surrounds. Spending more time at Towerwater also brought home the reality that we have too many things cluttering up the loft space.

The death of so many people in our circle from Covid, made me realise that life is unpredictable and the time that one has available needs to be used to sort out as many projects as possible.

For me, one of those projects is reducing the items stored on the solder (loft). Over the years, what used to be a painter’s studio and music room, has become a storage space for unused furniture, carpets, prints, books, crockery, cutlery, bedding, research maps and more.

On one of my trips to the local recycling plants, I discovered to my horror that somebody had dumped several boxes of books in the skip for paper recycling. Some boxes had burst open on impact. The books were in good condition. Clearly from somebody’s library now no longer appreciated and valued. Perhaps it was from a deceased estate, or perhaps more people are busy decluttering their lives and living spaces.

I contemplated climbing into the skip and rescuing the books. I love books, but that day I was strong enough to turn my back on the temptation. Most of the books in the boxes and on the bookshelves in the loft, are already rescued books that now needs to be put up for adoption.

I bravely ventured up the soldertrap (loft stair) and decided to start with the surplus bedding. I made piles of the bedding that we haven’t used in a long time. I could give the bedding to people that needed it and that could use it instead of it lying on the loft tempting the fish moths.

After the bedding was successfully distributed to grateful recipients, I decided to move on to the books. I contemplated not opening the boxes and just loading them onto the bakkie and taking them to be recycled in the way I saw it done at the local recycling plant. I discovered that only a very brave version of me would be able to do that and he was not with me in the loft on that day.

I opened the first box. It was like seeing friends I have not seen for a long time. The third book that I took out of the box was “Music for chameleons” (a collection of short stories and conversational portraits) by Truman Capote. The changing light and the chill in the air alerted me to the late afternoon that would soon turn into evening. I looked up and at my feet was the open box of books half-forgotten while I became engrossed in reading one of the “Conversational Portraits” with the title “A Beautiful Child”, in which Capote recalls an encounter with Marilyn Monroe.

Truman Capote dancing with Marilyn Monroe in 1955 - Bettmann Archive

I realised at this rate I will read more than I will recycle. My lofty ambitions to clear the loft will probably take longer than planned. For now, clearing the loft is like traveling through our Towerwater history. With linen telling the story of the different stages of the restoration of Towerwater. I also had to say goodbye to some linen inherited from my mom, but I realised she would have preferred for it to be used and enjoyed.

Memories of loved ones are not in the material things they leave behind. By letting go of it I did not let go of the memories in my heart and it somehow made me feel lighter.

I replaced my flight to Portugal with a trip up the flight of stairs to the loft. En-route, I discovered more about myself than I expected. Perhaps the restrictions on overseas travel is not such a bad thing after all.