The last few months have been crazy on many fronts. First the house I have rented for the last eleven years was sold , and we have a very short time in which to find a new place and move. Thanks to a lot of prayer, and some good friends, we were able to do both. We moved into a much smaller home, which meant we had to downsize.
As one might imagine, after eleven years, I had a significant amount of “stuff”. I was willing to part with any and everything except for…you guessed it…my books. Although the sizes did vary somewhat, most of the boxes in which we moved the books were about one square foot. We moved sixty-three of them. Of course, we had to move shelves too, although, I was particular about which ones went. Most of the cheap particleboard shelves were left behind.
The new house has a long hallway down one side. It was perfectly designed to be lined with bookshelves, which is exactly what we have done. We lined up the shelves we had, and Ed built a few more. We also have four short selves in the living room, but two of those contain hymnals, music books, and sheet music (yes, its still technically books).
We have been moved about two months now, but the books are not settled yet. Many of them, although on the shelves, are stacked vertically instead of horizontally. Our goal is to have them all displayed horizontally, as they are easier to reach. Then I plan to use my limited IT education to create a database, so they are easier to keep track of.
Due to many extenuating circumstances, I haven’t been able to read as much as I had hoped. What little reading I have done, however, has been a delight. Although I have never read “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Dr. Maya Angelou, (I plan to now), I was able to pick up copies of “Gather in My Name”, and “Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now”. What wonderful, wonderful books! The first is another installment of her autobiography, and covers a short period in her late teens and early twenties. The second is a series of short observations and opinions.
Another book that I should have read long before now is “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. A moving story of racism, justice, and doing the right thing, because it’s the right thing, during the great depression in the south, told from the viewpoint of a young white child. Sometimes children see much more clearly than we give them credit for. Great book!
