Everyone is still sleeping because we all caught some kind of spring cold and outside it looks like December instead of April. I am up debating on what to pack and what to get rid of. It's been nine years since we changed houses and I'm not sure how I want to do things. There is so much to get rid of! The longest we've been in one house before now was three years and each time we move we move more stuff-- except this time. This time we are purposefully downsizing. We just don't need as much as we have. Clothing is a big topic because we have at least double what we need. Do we keep our TV cabinet or do we keep the dresser? How do we organize rooms? I've written out some lists, but still I know I'm not going to fully have the answers until we are there. Does anyone else have this problem? I really can't seem to figure what to take and what to give away (sell, throw out, etc.). What to part with-- Ahhh! That is the real question.
So far I've been getting rid of some of my books (ARRRG!) and some old mixing bowls. I'm packing sparingly-- If I know exactly where it goes and know I want it, but what do I do about that old 1960s/70s era set of science books? Or the early eighties American history encyclopedias? I mean the late 1920s encyclopedias there is no way I'm parting with, but then there is the in betweens-- If I was honest with myself I want to keep all of them, but if I am being realistic-- Well that is another story. My biggest problem is books. I have a full library, and then at least two closets full of different books. So I have to part with some of them. The hardest question is which ones. The reality side of me says the mid-era research books can go. After all you can find all of that on the internet--
Ahh but can you? Books don't change their print and they don't crash. The internet? Well lets be honest, it is continuously changing and more than once I've had a very interesting read removed. When I go back to reference it-- it is no longer there. Besides to someone who has researched history, books are a best friend. The closer you get in print date to the actual event the more the story changes. I'm not saying we rewrite our history-- well not for the most part. I am saying it is amazing how attitudes change in one hundred years-- and you just can't get that feel from the internet, but I can from my books. I love to go back to my history books written around 1900 and read about The War Between The States, or even better read the difference in material printed in the South compared to the North. Then go to the 1920s and read again. Then the 1950s-- and this is the era you see an amzing change taking place. Now the 1970s things really get whitewashed, and by the 1990s you almost have a different story entirely. Think I'm crazy? Try it. Use printed material and see how you can understand a subject so much better. You can get ten different perspectives just depending on the era you choose the reference material from. Now if you add in actual accounts from the people that participated in the event-- Oh that makes for some really interesting finds! You don't know where your perspective will end up!
And understanding? Oh don't get me started! Let's just say on the topic of The War Between The States, as I researched it this way, there is a reason I cannot refer to it as the Civil War. Do you realize that that particular war still effects this country? But that is probably a subject for a different time. Right now I have to make a decision on my books. After writing this and thinking it out, I think I'm keeping my research books. The science books? That is more of a debate. But I still do not have an answer! So maybe I'll just go pack those research books, and label them for my big bookcase that goes in the living room. At least that's one decision down. So happy packing days! This is Cat out.
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