Then I began the job of thinning out the clothes pile. Julia's favorites had gotten lost, so they were ferreted out first and put on the new line. I showed her the things I had never seen her wear, and/or that weren't really her colors. When she said ever so dutifully, "Oh, I should wear that," I put it in the bag for give away. When she said brightly, "Oh, I like that!" I knew it was a keeper, and found a place for it. Some items which were Laura's or no longer fit that we can't bear to part with went into a new low container, to be stored under the bed.

I put a couple of my blouses in the giveaway bag, too. I put them on, and determined how I felt in them. If I didn't 'feel alive' in them, but drab and icky, out they went. So that is a successful project. Two bags await dropping in the giveaway bin.

In addition to being more practical, our closet is more now aesthetically pleasing.

We've been blessed lately to enjoy many new aesthetic experiences. Sunday, Julia and I enjoyed an excellent breakfast while musicians played and a poet read. David Coy's poetry evokes such rich imagery. I enjoyed it for its own sake. And then there is another sake. He might inspire my poetry. Maybe my poetry will gain more imagery. It's all going into the subconscious soup, where it's going to simmer and the flavors blend, and will surely reflect itself somewhere. Artists need another artists. We don't create in a vaccuum. Certainly, the fire that inspires creation, that is inward and solitary. But there's always this dynamic interchange going on. Each thing builds upon what came before it.