I had a hour of free time today so I decided to take a trip down memory lane.  My better-half has gotten it into her head to do a little redecorating of the house.  She’s started using one of my own favorite terms against me, "think outside the box."  I’ve been trying for years to convince her to leave her comfort zone and use her creative abilities and now I’m afraid I may have created a monster.

For years I’ve gone through creative periods myself and produced art works that are considered unusual by some and well "outside the box" to others.  Many of those pieces were discarded as I moved from place to place over the years and I regret that. Fortunately, many others I did save and have been moving them around with me for decades.

After I moved into this house I laid claim to a very small and unused room where I now store many of these pieces. My better-half has requested that I look through the room for anything interesting she could use in her redecorating efforts.  I began today by slowing pulling out each piece to determine condition and suitability. It was like a really weird trip down memory lane.  As I looked at each piece the exact memories of when it was made come rushing back. I was able to remember people and places I thought I’d forgotten. I was very surprised just how quickly and vividly those memories came rushing back.  I guess it’s my own version of a poor man’s time travel machine. It appears to be true that the brain keeps all of our experiences stored away in it’s attic awaiting retrieval.

One of my most involved projects took me years to complete.  It was a series of twenty collages varying in size from a few inches to four feet in length.  These collages contain tidbits of my life that I began saving when I enlisted in the Army.  They contain bits and pieces of my life collected over many years with photos of old friends, , family, love letters, newspaper articles, mementos, and just about anything else you can think of.   The entire project  was called " My Life Panels".

I spent almost all of my time yesterday just sitting and reading these panels, seeing forgotten old friends, and remembering details of my rather interesting life.  I’ll have to continue this process at a later time because today I’ve become totally distracted. It might be easier and go a little quicker if I have my better-half involved. She’s always had the ability to keep me from becoming too sidetracked.

I can look back now and thank myself for a job well done.  I truthfully never expected the day to come when I’d be using the panels in this way.  I think I did good.