The mystery of wood

So I have been cleaning out my parents’ house. They weren’t packrats, but they lived in this house for over 50 years, so there is a lot of stuff to be cleaned out!

I thought I would have a hard time going over to the house after Mom died. But surprisingly, I haven’t been too emotional over there. The only time I get really sad is when I go upstairs to her bedroom. I fondly remember all those times when I would come over to drive her somewhere and meet her upstairs, watching her as she combed her hair and put on her lipstick. I sure miss that!

The cleaning out of the house is going well. Most of the stuff doesn’t have any sentimental value, so it’s an easy decision to throw it away. We are lucky to have a “swap shop” at our local town dump, so a lot of stuff is going over there. I have made so many trips to the dump that I am on a first name basis with many of the dump employees.

There is one mystery though. A lot of wood is stored in the basement and in the garage. As you can see from the pictures, it is wood of all different shapes and sizes. There are planks, two-by-fours, round broom-stick like pieces, and small pieces. What on earth is all this for? Dad was not handy, although he liked to think he was. Was he planning on building something with all this wood? A shed for the back perhaps?

The pictures don’t do it justice. All this wood was scattered in separate piles around the basement and garage. For both the basement and the garage, I “neatened” the piles up a bit, so all the wood was in one place.

A neighbor suggested that he was planning on using it for firewood, but I don’t think so since there was also a lot of firewood in the basement.

What do you think? What on earth could all this wood be used for?

Artful wood photos were taken with my trusty smartphone.