This book title drew my attention very promptly. My Dad was a great keeper of things that “one day might come in handy.” So the garage or workshop had many jars of nails, screws, attachments, gadgets,pieces of timber,pipes and things that he saw as having a possible use. He was a capable repairer but knew where to draw the line in terms of danger.
There were many times when he would find just the thing to fix something from his collection of “things that might come in handy.”
However he would not have kept bits of string to short to use.
The title of Jennifer Beck’s memoir comes from a real experience of a house being cleared out and a jar found that was carefully labelled “Bits of string too short to use” and inside the jar were the bits of string. I did have to giggle at such frugality.
I’ve enjoyed Jennifer’s memoir. It is a genre I really enjoy and as I am a bit younger than the author I have enjoyed reading about life in New Zealand in simpler times to the ones I grew up in.
Jennifer was a collector of many and varied objects (but not of short pieces of string) and in later life was discovering the challenge of decluttering possessions. This is a process I am currently wrestling with and not finding easy.
I have not read any of Jennifer’s books but I will borrow some from the children’s section of the library to broaden my knowledge of her prolific writing career.
I had a poignant moment in the book when she described receiving positive feedback and encouragement from my uncle who taught at the Teacher’s college she attended. We are a small country and degrees of separation here can be very small at times.
I enjoyed this connection and other connections that occurred for Jennifer in her life and writing.
ordinarygoodness 