Things.

Organized neatly. I'm a fan. Perhaps this fondness for neatness was inherited from my dad. I remember watching him move objects around on his desk while talking on the phone, following some sort of invisible grid, shifting things into a pleasing alignment.
And so, a tribute by way of an iphone snapshot. A few bits from his home desk shuffled around til they fall into something resembling order.

Clockwise, starting top left: Strattons gold cufflinks, Sons of Scotland kilt pin and name tag, Whiskers the dog photo,  compass, a 10-page letter, brass change dishes, shoehorn, letter opener, Metropolitan Museum of Art  card (unused), leather keycase, phone/address book.
Below: Grant at his desk at the Canadian Forest Products Lab in 1949.