{ the jaunty magpie }

Al Gore is going to hate the Magpie, as she had to go through about a landfill's worth of packing material to uncover a treasure trove of old family heirlooms. The spirit of spring cleaning bit this Birdie on her tailfeathers one Sunday afternoon and the whole rest of the day was spent carefully unwrapping several boxes full of old Japanese dolls that have been in the family for several years. They were happily residing at my parents' house, but my Jaunty Mother must have gotten a spring cleaning inspiration of her own and wrapped everything up to send to me.

Sure, non-sentimental people would wonder why I'd keep such dust collectors, but they clearly haven't understood why I'm called a Magpie. And the classification of "Hoarder" hasn't quite been diagnosed. I managed to get rid of all the throwaway packing material, so don't sign up this Bird for any TLC or Discovery Channel behavior dysfunction shows just yet. At the end of the day, it was just a nice relief to have the boxes unpacked and get the contents on display in our home. And if anyone's interested, take any of your surplus of packing materials like styrofoam peanuts to a UPS store, as they will take them for reuse or recycling. Make the most of rainy springtime days and get those living spaces Jaunty!

Jaunty Fine Print: Photos by Denise Sakaki