My mother always kept a ‘what not’ shelf, items chosen and displayed on the basis of some personal association or memory, bearing no relation to possible dollar value. I suppose the Jewish word tchotchki has now come into more general use. At our house, Paul and I keep a ‘what not’ shelf, to which every Christmas I add two, now pretty battered, Christmas choristers that were always a part of our family holiday decorations. I believe they came from my grandmother, who would have turned 117 this year. (She didn’t quite make her goal of living in three centuries.)

I have written another sketch that discloses my personal reflection on the keeping of clutter, enchanting perhaps to the collector, sometimes beguiling to others.