Just had a new floor installed, and took the opportunity to update the bookcase in the den. These are the keepers, the historic ones, the books I plan to read again. I triaged them, so now I've got space to expand.
Let me tell you how my books are arranged.
Upper left - Poetry. A large set that laps over to the shelf below. Sometimes I snatch a chance read Kipling, late in the evening.
Third shelf down on the left are my science books, textbooks, references I might use, or just memories of happy times.
Third shelf down on the right I keep some old family heirlooms. Who doesn't have those?
Top right - Astronomy. I can't practice star-gazing as I did in Texas but I still enjoy the play of the constellations and planets.
Now then. Second shelf on the right - This is the Special Shelf. These are books I know I'll read again and again. Novels such as The Poisonwood Bible and Wicked. Visions of nature. Your Inner Fish.The Dartmouth Bible. These are books that have expanded my horizons; changed my perspectives.
It is my hope that books will continue to be published and read, for both entertainment and enlightenment. I hope that the digital world will not replace them. Will my great-grandchildren read or will they watch?
Post-script. I've just added a book to the special shelf, and it's a book of poems! "Nearing Ninety and other comedies of late life," by Judith Viorst. I'm in my nineties now. Do you want to know how I'm coping, how I'm feeling, what I'm thinking? Judith Viorst has hit it on the head!
Dac Crossley
July 14, 2019
"Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash." - Leonard Cohen.