There are two cabinets over the washing machine, two cabinets over the dryer, with three shelves each. Over the washing machine, in ascending order, you’ll find laundry supplies on the first shelf, batteries on the second, and puzzles on the third. The latter is up there because my late wife was a puzzle master and they’re stored everywhere. You can’t get to the third shelf without a step stool, so, it’s a good storage shelf.

Over the drier, well, you can’t really get there from here because I keep stuff on top of the dryer in violation or my wife’s tidiness norms. There’s a bucket, a soft-sided cooler, and two small life jackets. None of them really belong there. If you could get past them, however, you would find the cabinets behind stuffed with cleaning rags. Seriously, stuffed. As I looked at all this untidiness, two things occur to me. One, I really need to get that stuff off the drier. Seriously, it’s there because I’m lazy. Two, perhaps we don’t need quite that many rags.

So, I do believe this morning, after breakfast, I will remedy the situation that has lingered for far too long. I will pare down our rag inventory, and properly store the lifejackets, bucket, and cooler. Then, in a small corner of a small room, order will prevail, and I will feel good. It will be a nice thing to do in memory of the woman who did so much to make our house a home. Plus, I think she’d be pleased to know that even in her passing she is still helping me get along.