For over a decade my husband and I were very active as search-and-rescue specialists. We lived in a 28-foot Airstream trailer (the Cadillac of trailers) in a trailer park. We were the only trailer not on blocks, because about twice a month we had to hitch up, head out to the desert to join a search team looking for a downed or missing aircraft.

As I was writing the earlier entry on hoarding, I was thinking of those Airstream trailer days. The cupboards and table and bench seats were wood, very easy to care for, and the bed was built in, with a small bathroom in the very rear. Everything self-contained.

And nothing superfluous in the entire place. We had a separate storage shed where we stored books, left behind when we went on search. Under the bench seats of the trailer itself we had two-way radios and a teletype machine, first aid kits and survival packs.

Attached to the trailer itself was a fold over tunable antenna for the radios and huge batteries in the very front near the hitch and the water tank. Underneath was the holding tank for the waste water and solids.

In the closets we had dress clothes and uniforms, shoes and hiking boots on the floor, jeans and tees on a shelf over the hanging items. Enough clothes for a week, then wash and recycle.

In the kitchen area, a small refrigerator and stove and cupboards with staple foods and dishes. Frying pan, sauce pan and kettle.

In a small dresser under a tiny window were drawers for underwear and socks. Hairbrush and comb.

The bathroom had a toilet, sink and miniscule shower sort of thing.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, was bought or added to the contents of the trailer if it did not have a place to fit. Nothing lived on the table top or bench seats. It simply was not, could not be tolerated. If there was something new/extra, then something else had to be removed/eliminated/given away.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention--plus two large dogs. Sometimes there didn't seem to be quite enough room for the people....