I didn’t place a slogan on my wreaths, but it dawned on me that the wreaths' fundamental purpose is to be decorative. It didn’t take much looking to find a slice of bare kitchen wall not quite four feet wide. Three screws later, I had hangers for three non-seasonal wreaths. Roughly every three months, it will take all of about a minute to exchange the wreath on my front door with the now seasonal wreath in the kitchen.
Although this story had a surprisingly happy ending, it also served as a warning. My house (and garage) are getting full. Some items will go in the annual “Kensington Cleanup” which comes in September. This event has people given an extremely large amount of trash pickup for one week, and scavengers always come through picking up still usable things. It’s been a big help in moving excess stuff out of my house, as well as bringing in freebie things I need.
But the golf clubs…
Yeah, I own a house in the San Francisco Bay area. I just missed the anniversary of the date I purchased it, Nov. 1, 1981, and I hope it isn't too upset with me. Perhaps having a section of my website dedicated to this fine bit of paradise will make it feel better. Probably not as much as if I cleaned it up real nice, but it's a start.
Shin the Homeowner
In Plain Sight
I’ve often quoted the old saw “a place for everything and everything in its place” as the perfect strategy for housekeeping. I eventually found that some space under my bed was good for Christmas decorations, except for my tree and my front door wreath which were too big. I would put them in plastic bags and trot them out to the garage for storage when not in use. This was fine for several years, but eventually I decided that December wasn’t the only month I wanted a decoration for my front door.
I let it be known as we approached last Christmas that a cool gift would be a seasonal wreath. My grandnephew Wesley obliged and spring was now covered. Of course, it would occupy the same garage space the Christmas wreath did until I swapped the two out. But the big problem was my long-term desire to have a decoration for each season. I would need a place for three wreaths! Surely I’d have closet space, which would have the added advantage that I would not need to use plastic bags to keep spiders out.
I was wrong. In mid-July I found myself at a large Michael’s arts and crafts outlet. I love Michael’s and hope that as large, on-line stores replace more and more of our retail sales businesses, it will stick around. Well, it took little time to find what I was looking for in my quest for seasonal door decorations, and I left having now covered the two remaining seasons, summer and autumn. I quickly took the spring wreath down and replaced it with the summer one, not really all that different. But now I had three wreaths not in use. And no, my closet space was insufficient.
I checked the garage, and found that it was becoming rather full. Not really cluttered, but full. Perhaps I really should give up on golf. Those clubs served me well, but I haven’t swung them in… wow… three years, and not regularly since Covid. But if my shoulder permits, I can see myself hiking out to the driving range at Tilden Park. For now, that dream survives and the clubs stay.
So where to store my non-seasonal wreaths? I remembered an episode from a wonderful ‘60s sitcom, “My Favorite Martian” in which the Martian’s flying saucer was stuck in hover mode and had to be moved. How could he move it without him being discovered as an alien? (Of course, ICE didn’t exist back then, but it would still be a problem.) Anyway, he came up with the gem “The best place to hide something is in plain sight.” All he had to do was place an advertising slogan on it, and nobody thought twice about seeing a flying saucer hovering three feet off the ground in the middle of the city.
Last Update: August 7, 2026
The John Shinnick Web Site
Adds a decorative touch to my kitchen, doncha think?
This section includes the house, the yard, the garage, the car and environs.
