The Lesson of the Clothespin: Refusing to Discard the Broken Things in a Throwaway Culture

sandpaper. I stripped away the cheap varnish they had slapped over it in the 90s, revealing the beautiful, tight grain underneath. When I was done, it was stronger than it had been when it was new.

Then it was a blender. Then a bicycle.

My garage became a sanctuary for the discarded. And as I worked, Gable watched. The rhythm of the sandpaper, the smell continue reading …