a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Friday, February 19, 2010

We Are Hunters and Gatherers

I borrowed this picture.
Where my man keeps his stuff is messier.

Hunters and gatherers ran through my mind today. Did I think of nomad tribes wandering here and there, hunting game and gathering edible plants, nuts and fruit?

NOPE, not me. I thought of how Hubby gathers his stuff around his chair as if, when it were put away, he may never see it again. I thought about how he HUNTS for his stuff and I GATHER it for him and put it back where it is supposed to be.

I have to admit I have a couple of corners like that. One, my computer center, is piled with important pieces of paper and the things I need while computing. My other corner is beside my chair but limited to one side table, stacked high with about ten books. I know I can not read them all at once but if I put them away, I will need them. I will have to HUNT and GATHER them from where ever I decided to put them away. So they stay there, my Dog Whisperer, my Horse Riding for Dummies, a few good novels, a dog breed book, a tablet and a pencil.

Now I have confessed to my corners, we shall talk about Hubby's. What ever may be needed for any thing is in this corner where he will "know where it is". We have a shop with a lean to, a boat shed, a barn, a smokehouse and a basement but these things must stay here.

Dead batteries, pennies, ammunition of all sorts(the guns are in a cabinet), knives, things he got for Christmas, bolts, various flashlights and keys that fit nothing. This is just naming a few things.

After years of cleaning this corner and putting things in my proper order, I have admitted defeat. I have tried to make life easier by expanding his corner. It has a desk, with drawers. He has a side table, oops, make that two. I have even supplied a large trash can so he does not have to leave his corner to throw something away. And yet he still HUNTS for every thing although he swears he put it right there, did I move it, what did I do with it, where is this? Now I can just say, in your corner.

I  fixed a tool closet with MY tools. I have...HAD all tools in order so I could just reach in and find what I needed without looking. Now, they are gone because Hubby could not find his and since mine were so handy, you guessed it, mine are gone now too. I shall become the GATHERER once again.

It may not be food but I do think man and woman maintain their original roles. He is the Hunter and I, forever it seems,  shall remain the Gatherer.

8 comments:

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Very funny. I have noticed with myself the more I gather in my life, the more chaotic my surroundings. If only I could locate things when I need them. Good thing you don't live any closer, I would be borrowing your tools too.

the canned quilter said...

I am also a gatherer with missing/stolen tools. LoL

Unknown said...

So true!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Yep, if ya'll hadn't guessed I am the neat freak of the household and hubby is the pack rat. I guess we love drivin' each other nuts!!!

God bless an have a wonderfully blessed weekend!!!

Sharon Day said...

I admit to being a Virgo through and through. I throw out everything and have extreme organization in the house, except for hubby's stuff. He's a Cancer and he lives in a rat's nest basically. He holds things for 3 decades and one day when he needs some tiny tiny part, he produces it and says "see, this is why I keep things!" So, we've made space for and moved this item for 26 years now and he's finally using this 50-cent item he could have gotten at the store. What about the 1000 things he keeps that he never ends up using? I'll never understand it, but then I like to think of it as quirky and childlike, but he's only allowed to hoard in two hidden areas of the house and the rest is my neat and organized space. I can't even think with clutter. It drives me nuts. What is it with men? My grandmother was a nomadic Sami in Lapland and I always think how nice it was to keep life so simple you could pack and up and build a new hut somewhere else and just carry what you own. The simple life.

Pat said...

I hear ya, Gail. Now try living this life in a 40 foot TRAILER! Yikes! No matter how hard I try to organize everything, it still looks "lived in" to say the least! When people drop by, I smile through gritted teeth and say, "ha, ha, remember we live in this FULL TIME!"

Irene said...

I'm a Virgo too and like things neat. I'd rather trow something out than save it. I hate stacks of things that are not useful. I dislike clutter. I used to be married to a man who saved everything and who carries the world in boxes with him. Some of those boxes are still here.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I am a Virgo too..it must be a convention! I am getting less picky in my old age..I think we both have our messes or collections of stuff we use all the time. Cute post..I really enjoyed it:)

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