Pack Rat

Farmer Bill · June 17, 2015, 01:27:34 AM

Having lived on the same 18 Acre parcel for about 40 years and being an avid Garage-Saler. As you might expect I have amassed a great deal of "STUFF" There is an old saying "Junk is stuff that you throw away and Stuff is junk you keep" Great, now which do I file this under Stuff or Junk?
Here is a poem from the old days (Edgar Guest (1881 - 1959) that sums it up pretty well (it fits "people" too)
"The Junk Box"

My father often used to say:
"My boy don't throw a thing away:
You'll find a use for it some day."

So in a box he stored up things,
Bent nails, old washers, pipes and rings,
And bolts and nuts and rusty springs.

Despite each blemish and each flaw,
Some use for everything he saw:
With things material, this was law.

And often when he'd work to do,
He searched the junk box through and through
And found old stuff as good as new.

And I have often thought since then,
That father did the same with men;
He knew he'd need their help again.

It seems to me he understood
That men, as well as iron and wood,
May broken be and still be good.

Despite the vices he'd display
He never threw a man away,
But kept him for another day.

A human junk box is this earth
And into it we're tossed at birth,
To wait the day we'll be of worth.

Though bent and twisted, weak of will,
And full of flaws and lacking skill,
Some service each can render still.

© Edgar Guest (1881 - 1959)

Cedarman · June 17, 2015, 07:26:54 AM

Well I'll be. There really is some poetry that makes sense.

Thanks FB

drobertson · June 17, 2015, 08:23:34 AM

You bet cedarman, this is a good one, caught me a bit off guard, but I really like it, thanks for sharing farmerbill,

sandhills · June 17, 2015, 10:24:50 AM

Thanks farmerbill that was a good read.

coxy · June 17, 2015, 08:11:49 PM

AWSOME thanks for sharing 8) 8)

samandothers · June 17, 2015, 09:40:03 PM

Very nice indeed. Thank you

nmericle53 · June 27, 2015, 11:30:20 AM

Is a pack rat and a hoarder from the same family?

clww · June 27, 2015, 01:29:40 PM

I've been one for years. :D

coxy · June 27, 2015, 01:45:00 PM

Quote from: nmericle53 on June 27, 2015, 11:30:20 AM
Is a pack rat and a hoarder from the same family?

the bigger question is what do you get when you cross the two :D :D I fit it all ;D

POSTON WIDEHEAD · June 27, 2015, 04:40:11 PM

I've got some friends that are Pack Rats. ;D

Howdy · July 01, 2015, 02:57:52 AM

Well HOWDY neighbor,
Collecting stuff is a hard habit to break. If my wife had her way I would own only as much as I could carry as she put my bags outside the door. My vice is watching Craigslist and seeing all the good finds if only I had the room and a truck to haul with. Somehow my garage is usally full of my kid's extras so there is little room for me to gather very much more.

Welcome from Hillsboro !!!

sawguy21 · July 01, 2015, 11:50:40 AM

We recently moved to a home with an empty 3 bay garage. I really have to restrain myself but valuable STUFF has already started to accumulate. ;D

thecfarm · July 01, 2015, 08:05:03 PM

3 bay garage??,man, I have about an acre covered,I have about 169 left.

jwilly3879 · July 01, 2015, 08:19:41 PM

My grandfather told me that, " If you can't eat it, read it or wear it your wife believes it doesn't belong in the house." So you have to hide the very best stuff.