Miscellaneous

John R York

April 10, 2026

Junk Drawers

I am the treasurer of my Rotary Club. Occasionally, I am required to enter an expenditure for something that is undefined in the chart of accounts, so I record it under the catch-all account, "Misc". In this context, it seems to me that miscellaneous expenditures assume a somewhat trivial significance. To add insult to injury, this account comes under the celibate parent account, "Other Expense". Yet, we have managed to spend over $1,200 on miscellaneous purchases over the past nine months.

As some of you know, I am easily provoked into lapses of ponderous abstract digressions. What does miscellaneous really imply? I began to wonder if miscellaneous things influenced my life. How does one even identify such a thing?

Well, the first thing that came to my mind was the “junk drawer”. To be honest, we have at least two junk drawers in our house. When I opened the one in our kitchen, I was shocked.

“Where did all this stuff come from? Why are we hoarding four obsolete calculators? I didn’t know all these matches were in here. Do we really need ten miniature screwdrivers? Ha! There’s that kazoo I was looking for.”

The drawer included a large number of objects whose purpose I could not begin to fathom, yet there they were stashed under equally nebulous bits of junk. The laundry room junk drawer revealed even more oddities. You know those little tool kits that come with furniture you assemble yourself? We had apparently kept most, if not all, of them over the years. As I took a mental inventory of all the odds and ends, the meaning of miscellaneous struck home.

The Small Things In Life

At first glance, miscellaneous suggests an absence of categorization, but it also describes a variety of discrete ingredients or parts. The items in the junk drawers evoked thoughts of nearly forgotten events in my life. Some of that old stuff also made me realize how much things have changed over the years.

I’d wager that most people—myself included—tend to reflect on life in broad strokes: the milestone events—births, deaths, graduations, marriages, divorces, relocations, and the like. Yet it is the small, daily moments that truly compose a life. The choices we make, the reactions we have, the habits we form; these are the quiet, essential ingredients. Though we often file them away in the miscellaneous corners of memory, they are, in fact, the forces that shape both the character and the ultimate course of our lives.

I now realize how important the miscellaneous bits of life can be. Perhaps the multifarious bric-a-brac and gewgaw in your junk drawers is not the best source for instigating a trip down memory lane, but you never know.

Other Miscellaneous Thoughts

I had all but given up my belief in the Easter Bunny. Then I woke up last Sunday to find an Easter basket full of goodies waiting for me in the kitchen. My faith has been restored.

Thanks to a presentation at our Rotary meeting this week, I discovered that the mosquito is the most dangerous animal in the world, killing over a million people each year as a result of the deadly diseases they carry. The second most dangerous animal are humans, responsible for a mere 400K to 500K deaths per year. I feel compelled to tell you that Hippos are responsible for only 50 deaths per year. I am less likely to be killed by a hippo than a mosquito or a human, which I consider a good thing. I imagine death my hippo is significantly more horrifying.

A friend of mine, Gary Burden, is scheduled to climb Mount Everest in the Spring of 2027. His climb is associated with a fundraising effort called "Operation Elevate". The goal is to raise awareness and strengthen support for mental health of our military and first responders. Climbing Mount Everest is crazy difficult and adventure at its highest level.

If you're interested in learning more about this expedition, check out the website at Operation Elevate