Runaway month on the loose!

Here comes August careering around the corner with its load of deadlines, academic and otherwise. Time to move things out of the way!

But that's not as easy as you might think. Just try getting rid of a nonworking vehicle that's stranded halfway between Nowhere and Nowhere Else. When the cost of towing exceeds the value of the car, who ya gonna call?

It's much easier to get rid of piles of random stuff that's been stashed away in closets so long no one remembers why we kept it. Look, a suitcase so old it doesn't even have wheels! A dust ruffle that matches a bedspread we wore out years ago! A flattened pillow that looks as if some creature has been gnawing on it! That empire-green lamp with the broken shade and no chance of ever finding a shade that fits! Who would want all this stuff?

The Goodwill store wants it, as it turns out. I hauled six armloads in there while the clerks thanked me so profusely you would have thought I was distributing gold bars. If a battered powder-blue suitcase without wheels makes you jump up and down for joy, you've got a pretty low joy threshold.

One more closet to clean out and then I'm declaring my deck-clearing done. Bring it on, August! I'm ready for you!