You Can Take It With You

You Can Take It With You

The wildfires in my end of the state have forced me to take a good look at my possessions and think about what is most important to me. If you had only 20 minutes to evacuate, and if you had only the space in your car for your belongings, what would you take with you so that it doesn’t burn to the ground, forever lost?

Well… all humans and household pets are a given. That’s easy.

Next, I would take the essential forms of identification, passport, cash, cards, and checkbook. An overnight bag with a change of clothes, toiletries, and a first aid kit—a collection of stuff that H.E. would call a “survivor kit,” which is the sort of thing you would have in the trunk of your car anyway, in case of emergencies.

Then I would take my family photo albums, my journals and diaries, my sketchbooks, address books, and the growing collection of CDs that hold my digital artwork. H.E. always tells me I should make a couple of copies of each CD and store the copies in a safety deposit box in quite another town, but even if I had a million copies stored all over the country, I would take my CD binder with me anyway.

I have at least 23 CDs so far, and here's a scan of some of them.

Beyond that, I don’t know what else I’d take. Important papers, yes. Perhaps my diplomas. Some books I have which are autographed by the authors. I still have plenty of room in the car and plenty of time, so I’ll also take a few more changes of clothes—maybe even take my keep-forever clothes, like my old cheerleading outfits which are totally irreplaceable for sentimental reasons alone.

My music CDs can be replaced. So can my software and my computers; they are all hand-me-downs anyway, as I have never actually ever bought a computer for myself.

Everything else can go. I have nothing of value, not even jewelry. I have an old stamp collection from my childhood, but I doubt it’s worth much; I don’t even know why I keep it. I also have a ton of sheet music and piano books, but I can always get those replaced, too, if I ever get around to living around a piano again.

But I think I’ve covered everything important. What about you?

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3 thoughts on “You Can Take It With You”

  1. Wow!!! I noticed my mug on one of your CD’S!!!! Holy Smokes!! What software to you use to print those???? As far as what I would grab….
    Family photos, my aprilgem art collection, my music, the dogs, some clothes, my mac (I am going to let the pc burn), stereo, digital camera. Anything else is of little importance. As a matter of fact, those are the only things I will keep when I move from here. I don’t need very much to be happy! Great question! It really made me think.

  2. I would grab my small (carry) safe, it has the most important paperwork. My mac, like Broch, my pc’s can burn. Some clothes, my digital camara, some journals and pictures and that would be it.

  3. I don’t remember the name of the software I use to make the CD labels, but it’s from one of those packages you see in an office supply store where you get some labels, some software, and a label applicator. The one I got was manufactured by Neato, though, if that helps. 🙂

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