  In an effort to stay somewhat in stride with the household laundry (as any good househusband would do) I scooped up all of the dirty laundry I could find this morning.
Most of it was in the clothes hamper where any good househusband would place it, but other random articles of clothing were found on the floor, behind a table, and on the bed. Loading all of the colored items (remember, segregation is okay -- even encouraged -- where laundry is concerned) into our fabulously advanced Maytag washer, I set it to whir while I moved on to chores waiting for me in the garage.
Sometime later I returned to find the wash, rinse and spin cycles had completed. When I removed the first bit of clothing to place it in the equally stunning Maytag drier, I noticed a small bit of paper clinging like a barnacle to one of my socks. "Uh oh," I thought, "Looks as if I left something in a pocket. " As it turns out I had left several somethings in my pocket -- an entire wallet full of somethings, as a matter of fact. Remarkably the contents of my wallet were in pretty good shape as was the wallet itself. The few dollar bills were, of course, in perfect shape as U.S. currency is designed to survive such mishaps. The credit card, driver's license, and membership cards gleamed in laminated splendor. The business cards (both mine and those given to me by others) were soaked through but salvageable. Only one small slip of paper was rendered unrecognizable but I suspect that this item had originally been a long-ago note about picking up this or that at the grocery store. I suppose something like this could have driven a reasonable person to homicidal rage but I decided to count it a blessing.
Arrayed in front of me on the kitchen counter was the entire, expanded contents of my wallet. I had been presented with an opportunity to sort through all of the stuff (and things) that had accumulated in there over the preceding four years. Deciding what was worthy of preservation and what could be easily discarded gave me a great sense of accomplishment (if not god-like power -- sort of like deciding who lives and who dies. ) When my wallet eventually dries out, it will be lighter and better organized than it has been in years. One less thing for me to think about until I wash it again. 
