"It's not how many friends you have on Facebook, it's the depth of connection of our community ties that will keep us together and allow us to have political power together."

I joked in my last post about decluttering how one night I decided to move my books around on a whim and ended up buying a six-pack of beer before I was through. Part of reason why I wanted to move my books around that night was because my books were not fitting into the shelves the way they were organized. It was a successful endeavour since at the end of the night I was left with half a shelf of empty space. Of course I think filled it up before the end of that month and I'm now stacking books on the floor. Again.

There are many good reasons for a mom to get herself and her family organized, of course.  We all know that life runs more smoothly when you have a plan, when you remember where you put the kids' spelling lists, and when you don't run out of milk at 7:45 on a Monday morning.

A couple weeks ago my mom told me that they'd heard some disturbing news. Land near their home in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area had been acquired for petroleum drilling exploration. The environmental impact, especially to the aquifer, could be devastating. Luckily, a group of local activists started a blog, Drilling Santa Fe, as an organizing and communication tool, and have put together an organizing event and petition, but it got me to thinking, why don't we all know how to organize our communities? Why isn't that one of the skills we learn in school, and how can we learn to do it today?

I dream about sorting through things, and my hands hold bureaus and silver, watches and sets of antique china. In the frantic dream, they drop through the sky as my hands sort them – “keep”, “auction”, “sell later”, “give away”, “discard”. The memories flash by as I touch their triggering object. This is the little clock my mother bought by accident at an auction when she was swatting at a fly that had buzzed her ear. Here is the steamer trunk that used to belong to Miss Miller’s great grandfather the sea captain. This is the nativity set I used to set up as a child.