Cleaning

It’s the weekend. What have I got planned for today? Something vague about cleaning. There is a group of girls who are accepting e-waste and other stuff: books, newspapers, fridges, etc. from 10 am to 2 pm. I ought to go through my books and round up at least one box worth.

DeeDude has been on a tear recently taking up the rug. So far he’s gotten the entire hallway and a portion of the living room done. The place is so much brighter and smells so much better. This is carpet that has been in place since our place was built in the early 1960’s. We’d worn holes into it and the final straw was when we both took a fall catching our toes in a widening hole in the hallway portion.

But, along with this major house cleaning project goes another project of going through our books. DeeDude has what he calls the 5 year rule. If he hasn’t looked at a book in 5 years it is on the list for getting rid of. Generally, we take them to the library and they will either sell them or include them in their collections. Some of these books are magnificent and it absolutely tears my heart out to get rid of them. But, we have no more room for them and it’s something that we should have done a long time ago. Last week I offered up 2 boxes of my own books. I came to a place of peace in my heart about this culling through the books when I began thinking of them as tools; the tool that was needed for a specific project that has since either been completed or abandoned for whatever reason. Weird, but it helped me to deal with the book anguish I was experiencing. I mean, books are my friends and every single one of them is precious to me.

With the advent of the internet much of the research we do can be completed online. Before, we would have gone to a book. Things change.

And…..I just culled through my part of the collection and got 2 boxes ready to go. I feel nobler. Still have to clean up the study, but at least it’s moving forward.