You Never a Know a When You May Need It

Well, gifting and shopping is over for a little while anyway and I've been putting the Christmas presents away. (At least the ones we're keeping and not regifting or schlepping off to Goodwill). Did we get too much? Did we give too much? Is there too much excess? I'm not sure, but I do know there are two gifts from last Christmas (yep 2013) that I haven't used yet. I'm talking about a lovely pair of Ugg slippers and a cool little Holga camera. I fear I may be saving them for good.

Having been raised by folks my cousin Mary Beth affectionately calls "depression era babies", I understand well the concept of not wasting. You never know when you may need something. Right? You never want to be a spendthrift and you should always be saving for that ever looming rainy day. Bud Ricker's refrigerator has a cracked shelf and occasionally sounds like it's warming up to be launched into space. Still he says it works fine so it would be silly to replace it. My family always kept a few old clothes in the back of the closet for painting or other dirty chores. I confess to having my own little "for painting" pile on a shelf. After my mother died this summer, we found brand new sweaters in her dresser presumably saved for good. Whatever that good was, it didn't come in time. 

Family legend tells of my grandmother buying my Grampa a pair of new slippers. As the story goes she insisted he throw his old ones out because they were so worn. He resisted until one day she put them in the rubbish herself. He snuck out to the trash barrel, brought them in, and hid them in the cellar. So we're back to slippers. I have one still perfectly good pair of slippers. I also have an even older not so good pair that should be in the rubbish or, at the very least, hidden in the basement. Hence, the new Ugg slippers still in the box.

Now what about that Holga? It's a beautiful, plastic lomography camera that takes 120 film and is notorious for light leaks. It's a cult classic, a thing of beauty. I really love it. I have Ilford film for it in the freezer. I have masking tape ready in my camera bag. Yes, I have too many cameras but that's a subject for another day. I will use it, Mo. I promise. I feel that rainy day coming on soon. 

Have any of you kept things for good? Are there things you're saving for a rainy day? I'd love to hear your thoughts and your stories in the comments.