In Focus

Why is it that when you have plans to be lazy for once, the universe laughs at you while stating, “Not today!” 

That was my Sunday. The plan was to finish and put away laundry, curl up into a ball with the cats, and read the book for book club (1984 by George Orwell). This didn’t go exactly as planned. 

I finished the laundry and was in the process of putting everything away when the pole in my closet decided to fall down. Sigh. This sometimes happens: the pole slides out of the hole in the wall where it’s braced and falls down. I began to carry the fallen clothes to my bed when I grabbed part of the pole and pulled it out, seeing that the pole actually had snapped in half. That was not good! 

It was a thick, solid piece of wood that had held up for who knows how many years, and I guess it had reached its limit. 

Previously, I attempted to brace the pole with actual braces. Even with heavy-duty anchor screws, it was no match for the ancient plaster, and the one stud wasn’t enough for support. It lasted maybe a week before it was ripped out of the wall.

The previous owners had made holes in the opposite walls to support the pole. It’s not pretty, but it’s in the closet and it works. Is it still sagging in the middle, with no way to support it? Absolutely. And because part of the closet has a dormer, those organizers won’t work, plus there is a lack of studs to support such a structure on the wall. I foresee it all ripping out in the long run.

I’ll have to frame out the closet and build something entirely custom. Like I have the funds for that! 

It all comes down to what I can do for the moment. Thankfully, another closet in the office had a pole that was only being used for some minor things and it fit perfectly into my closet. The problem is solved...for now.

Then came how to reduce the weight on the pole. It’s nearly impossible. I hang up mainly hoodies and jeans, which are too bulky to put in a drawer. I also have a scarf hanger for scarves and another one for leggings. You’d think leggings would be light. But it’s pretty heavy once you get 20 of them hanging on the same hanger. That became my goal, to move the leggings somewhere else, which was a challenge in itself.

I had to turn my attention to my dresser to find room for all the leggings. There was no time like the present to purge clothes. Between the closet and the dresser, I had disposed of about two garbage bags of clothes and still seemed to have no spare room; how did that happen? I ended up hanging up my knit sweaters, which were still lighter than the hoard of leggings, moved clothes around amongst the drawers as some were deeper than others, and finally found a place for all the remaining leggings. It will take time to remind myself where everything is now since most of it got shuffled. 

Several hours later, with a pile of hangers on the office floor I hadn’t dealt with yet, I was done for the day and finally got to my book. Whew...so much for a relaxing Sunday!