as you can imagine I am currently knee deep in boxes and I assure you that, though I do have a penchant for hyperbole, what I express now does not stray far from the absolute truth. It is staggering the amount of stuff two people can acquire whilst on their journey toward middle age. Keith despises the bits and pieces like plastic containers- many of which are lacking lids. Surprising as it may seem, I hate all the paper-old tax returns, documents I am loathe to get rid of like instructions for appliances I have had for YEARS. UGH it really does make us want to chuck it all sometimes and go live in a yurt.
Like every move, we are presented with the grand opportunity to purge. The word "down-size" is liberally used as we both vow to be ruthless in our packing. Despite these excellent intentions-we still end up on the other side with far too many plastic containers sans lids. Unpacking is also ruthless and what made it into the box does not always make it into the cupboard. It's like Hollywood week on American Idol. One area that is currently being decided upon is our fledgling library. Keith and I, both readers, both somewhat scholarly at different points in our lives, have collected many many many books. I now have an entire wall filled with boxes stacked taller than myself. The contents of those boxes are of the literary variety. We are both on the verge of releasing ALL of it save for a few favorites...and I do mean few. We own more books than clothes, than dishes, than just about anything and as it stands we have little room to continue our collection. Keith has an Ipad and I will soon be switching to an E-Reader. I know many purists talk of paper books with such reverence. The heft, the smell, the nostalgia. I get it, I guess....but I am not that sort. I love beautiful hardcovers as design elements, but those aren't the books I read-they are displayed in some pleasing way. The ones I read are light, and flimsy and mass produced. They do little but entertain me for a bit then sit and take up space.
I met an older man the other day at my local coffee shop reading away on his little gadget and I asked him his opinion. He informed me that anyone who is a "real" reader knows that the love of books and the love of reading are two different things. While he indulged his love of books themselves by occasionally purchasing one he found to be particularly lovely-he far preferred the ease of simply reading to his heart's content without worrying where to put it afterwards. Sounds good to me.
I think those boxes of books may be off to please a whole new set of eyes.
That said... I must now return to the task at hand. Moving day is fast approaching and we're not quite finished yet. So I will turn on some music...I've been listening to Florence+the Machine a lot-hence the title of this post-it makes me think of Keith and how all of this would be decidedly less fun without him.
BTW: the OG The Source + Candi Staton version is awesome and the one with which I grew up
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