After enduring the sentimental baggage of Tuesday’s box, I needed to find something easier for Wednesday. Instead, I got a lesson in how easily good intentions can be delayed.

Box 4: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

CONTENTS: This box, found near the front of the garage, includes a functional hot-water kettle (we purchased a newer one in December 2021), many plastic hangers, a small but nice polar-bear quilt that used to be a wall hanging in a previous house, a salt and pepper set, a shelf upon which we placed photographs (also in a previous house), a wire-bound wallet-sized item (complete with a Virgin Mary pendant) in which you could place small photos, and then a couple of odd things: A plastic magazine rack that apparently used to hold editions of a publication called Neurology Now and what appears to be a complete collection of every paper-wrapped set of wooden chopsticks we received over a couple of decades of dining out, still securely wrapped and ready to go.

DISPOSITION: As soon as I bring the box in from the garage, my wife tells me that this is a box of items that she has curated for the intention of giving them away. Which is fine, except this “to-give-away” box has been sitting in the garage for at least a year. The box does have items a thrift shop probably would take, and I’ll donate those items this weekend. The magazine holder will be tossed. I might hold onto the Virgin Mary photo album, awaiting instructions from above. The chopsticks, however, pose a challenge: Would they fit in the kitchen drawer that contains all of our hot sauce packets? Or would that be a small defeat? And speaking of small defeats: I do need more hangers, so I remove a handful from the box, although as I do so, I think it’s probably a sign that I have too many clothes. But one clutter challenge at a time, please.

If you’re coming late to the “365 Boxes” project, here’s the blog post that got it all rolling.