From Out of the Closet

From out of the closet come the strangest things. I’m not referring to the colloquial definition of coming out of the closet that involves gay folks announcing their preferences to the public or their families. Specifically I am writing about the astronaut purse found in Neil Armstrong’s closet. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died in 2012 and his widow recently (this week) found priceless artifacts from the Appollo 11 mission tucked away in their closet. Among the items in the purse (and the purse itself is an artifact too-perhaps I should call it a messenger bag, my husband’s term of choice over man purse) was a waist tether, power cables, and the historic camera that was mounted in a lunar module window, which recorded Armstrong taking his "one small step" on the moon's surface on July 20, 1969. I think this should amaze me but then I think about my own closet and how easily things get tucked away and forgotten deep within its nether regions and I’m really not surprised. But I have been inspired to search my closet for priceless artifacts, and this is what I have found. A set of wooden representations of the 12 Days of Christmas that were crafted by a dear friend who passed away earlier this year that I will treasure as I bring them out and display them on my fireplace year after year. A tangle of yarn that I just cut off and tucked away in frustration (because of my impatience with the ordeal of untangling) that just happens to have the perfect turquoise color for the Frozen hats (Elsa’s crown) that I’ve been making. Some wrapping paper rolls and some small mustard seed necklaces, forgotten Christmas gifts from a few years ago (probably 2012-rather than 1969). One blue and white striped fuzzy sock that I have been looking all over for, and had long given up on it since it’d been missing so long (at least three years). Hence I have been forced to wear my pink fuzzy socks exclusively this chilly winter and now one of them has a hole in it, making me even more grateful for my old standby striped fuzzies! That’s it for hidden treasures for me, so what’s in your closet?