A Collection of Thoughts on Collections

At first, I wasn't going to do a Collections post because like Baino, I don't collect anything. I'm the anti-collector; my favorite thing to do is to throw things out.

Children must instinctively know what drives their parents to insanity and then practice it to excess. My kids collect everything from toy cars to empty candy wrappers. And I'm not allowed to throw anything out. Of course, I do throw things out. And then all hell breaks loose.

I did have a small collection of pens from around the United States. When I worked at the Kennedy Center in DC, I was in charge of a children's tour. They would tour the country and send me pens from wherever they were. I didn't start the collection, the tours would just send them to me.

Eventually, they broke and we moved and I got to practice my favorite pastime and throw them out.

Then Megan's post inspired me because she talked about Church collections. I never collected money for Church but I have collected it for Theater. When I worked at the Saratoga Shakespeare Company, we performed outdoors in a park. After the performance the actors would wander through the audience collecting donations. At the end of the night, I counted all the money.

Finally, Kimy's post reminded me of a museum near me in Dolyestown, PA. The Mercer Museum was built to house Henry Mercer's collection of pre-industrial age Americana. What's amazing to me is that he knew, somehow, that life was changing and that if he didn't collect these instruments, furniture, boats, etc., they would be gone forever. It's a great museum, overflowing with items and a great place to take kids. The picture at the right is only a small representation of it. Lucky for us, he was the total opposite of me in terms of collecting.

So, thanks to all who inspired me to contribute. I think that's the best part of Theme Thursday: reading the collection of various thoughts, ideas, and stories on a single subject.