Glorious freecycling

As you know I'm a confirmed freecycler, giving and receiving regularly, and often very happy both with the transaction and with the resulting products (or space in the house!).

Recently two particularly good ones. A poster requested a commode for her very aged relative coming to stay, and they all suddenly realized she can't do stairs, and they have one bathroom up one flight, oh dear. So I got back in touch, since we have such a thing in perfect condition.

HP became paralyzed so fast -- over the course of a few hours he went from a person who could walk with a walker plus help, even do stairs with help, to someone who could not even support himself in a chair, total loss of mobility from the chest down -- that we got virtually no use from it, so it should go to someone who can get the benefit.

So my email bounced. Oh dear. So I posted asking her to get in touch explaining what had happened. Whereupon a whole bunch of people responded, some not understanding I was in search of a particular individual, some saying don't worry, I took care of her already, some saying are you giving or asking, etc. Comedy of errors ensued. But I did pursue it since this is the kind of item that if you need it you NEED it, and it's not a frivolous request. Finally gave up on trying to establish who was the original seeker, concluded she was already helped, ended up offering it to another person who came hotfooting over and I was so glad I'd done it.

Very sad story of her husband, only in his fifties gone to being almost an invalid, great pain, several unsuccesful spinal surgeries, very serious hospital problems, etc., all this happened in a mad rush, oh, I remember that feeling, and she's almost beside herself with fear and worry, now that he's home and trying to walk a little.

So we had a nice chat on my doorstep and I tried to be encouraging, and reviewed other stuff they might need that we have, and she departed feeling a heck of a lot better and as she said, not so alone. So that was a wonderful side effect of the freecycling impulse.

Then, the universe watching out for me, an freecycling offer of two pure wool large man sweaters, with pix appeared. The pix looked like a kind of greyish plain knit and a kind of darkish charcoal plain knit, so I thought, ah, harvesting! much good quality yarn in there, in acceptable colors for HS or others.

So yesterday, on a day when the heat index was in the 100s AGAIN, and high humidity, but I had the respite time, so I went out, I picked them up, and was stagamazed to find: two brand new, one still with original tag, handknit Irish aran sweaters, far far far too good to unravel, one with a signed tag of the knitter on it, in a natural creamy color,



the other in a darkish tweedy flecked with blue and green kind of subtle color.



And large was no overstatement. The sleeveless one will work as a winter tunic for me over tights, and the other needs some attention to the sleeves in order to become a winter dress for me. Both perfectly beautiful. What a treasure. I suspect they were gifts to the freecycler, not to his taste.

Anyway when I thanked him after I got home and realized what I'd been given, he got back saying, oh that's fine, then, and who knows maybe one day it will get cool enough to actually wear them!

Happy Weekend everyone! and please remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki in your prayers and making of peace cranes and walking the labyrinth and other observances that may suit your style.