A container full of stuff?

Our stuff from the UK arrived today. We packed a container full of stuff in the UK three months before leaving for New Zealand and now that we had had to replace the basics (pots, pans, crockery beds etc) I was beginning to wonder why on earth we were transporting the old stuff to the other side of the world. It was, after all, just stuff.

I convinced myself that when it arrived we would have to dispose of most of it through garage sales or Trade Me (the Kiwi equivalent of e-bay).

And so, today, three months later, they came with the container, and these lovely Kiwi blokes brought out stuff in, removed the packaging, laughed, joked and left.

Then...slowly...we started picking our way through all of the things we had forgotten about: granny's brass kettle that she used to leave sweeties in for the grandchildren; a talking crow I bought Morven (my nine year old daughter) during a period when we were both so obsessed by crows we thought we could talk to them ('Caaaw...caaaaaw'); a painting by a voodoo priestess bought during a holiday in New Orleans (seriously weird but wonderful) and so many other objects laden with memories.

Tonight I appreciate more the Maori definition of stuff or taonga as treasures or something prized: it doesn't apply to all stuff...but some stuff needs to be treasured.

PS That's a pohutukawa tree in front of the container...one of the most beautiful trees on the planet IMHO and an NZ native.