Thursday Thirteen

1. The other day I was thinking about all of the things around my home that are old, and I don't mean just me and my husband.

2. I am still using the Club cookware that I received as a wedding gift, almost 42 years ago. The pots have a few dings and scratches now, but they still heat evenly.

3. My camera sits on a Slik Stick tripod that someone gave me around 1986. I have tried a few other tripods, but I always go back to this one, even if I do have a bit of Duct Tape around one of its feet.

4. I have stoneware plates I never use that were a wedding present. They sit in the cabinet, and I probably should use them. Instead, I use Corelle ware, and I have no real idea why. Maybe habit. Maybe because it’s what I reach for without thinking.

5. The kitchen clock was also a wedding present. It has ticked away through many meals and lots of cooking. It's the last thing I glance at as I head into the garage for the car, to see what time it is, because it's still accurate.

6. I have a globe atop my bookshelf that my in-laws gave me so long ago that it's out of date, because the Soviet Union no longer exists, and neither do some of the other countries listed on it.

7. My bedroom suite is about 30 years old. It's well-made by a company called Virginia House, which no longer exists. It's not glued together; it's put together like well-made furniture should be. It will outlast me.

8. The cover on my checkbook is over 20 years old. It is made of leather, and I bought it at a craft show. The edges are smooth from years of being opened and closed.

9. I have a couple of books here that I've had since 2002, when my husband's grandmother passed away. They are history books about my county. Kegley's Virginia Frontier is one of them. It smells a bit musty and a little like Grandma.

10. The tassel from where I graduated with my master's degree in 2012 is now 13 years old. It hangs on my bookshelf. It reminds me of goals completed.

11. Another checkbook cover dates back to the 1980s. It still says Sovran Bank, which was a regional bank that existed from 1983 to 1990. The bank eventually became Bank of America, and the branch we used is now called Hometrust Bank, another regional bank, after Bank of America bailed on this area. This checkbook has outlived at least three banks.

12. I have a couple of hard plastic cups that I brought with me when we married, part of my "dowry" that I started when I was about 12. I had a little box where I kept things I thought I might need if I moved out or married, and the cups were among them.

13. And of course there's our house, which we built ourselves, nail by nail, in 1987. We moved in about this time of year - I know it was sometime in November. It's full of our DNA, and it is uniquely ours.

All of which is to say that things can last if one takes care of them and goes for quality. We have, of course, gone through many items - dishes, glasses, things that break when you drop them. As we enter our dotage, our things will come along for the ride.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 932nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.