Moving Notes

In taking stock of all the things that need moved in a few weeks, I've cleared out papers and gone through coats, shoes and furniture that can be given away. Having to pack it all out is a great motivator to go through and get rid of things. And I have made an obvious observation: we have a LOT of books.

Apart from the bathroom, into which we haul our magazines and books, every room in our house is going to require boxes to pack out books. The kitchen has enough cookbooks in it to necessitate its own box or two. Dante's bed comes with a built in bookcase and shelf -- both of which are filled with books. He has books in another hutch in his room. We have two bookcases worth in our own bedroom. And the library goes without saying. The living room has an antique bookcase full of books, plus a bookcase/lampstand thingy from Pier 1 that holds books on each side.

We have everything from graphic novels and art books to books about Revolutionary America and literary theory. There are Spanish and Italian language books, workbooks and other types of books in the language. Nature books, books on science, books on religion, religious books, trashy novels, biographies, modern fiction, ancient fiction, books on social problems, economics textbooks, photo albums.

Ye gods but we have books.

I've realized with horror and awe that books are going to be the things we endlessly pack. Cleaning out the rest of the rooms isn't going to be nearly as bad as packing and unpacking and sorting all those damned books.

-- DV