I have recently been
involved in trying to help some people move. And since they are going
to a smaller place they have to get rid of stuff. A lot of
stuff. And even when something isn't an heirloom it can still be a
memory. And a memory can be important.
I have stuff that I
am unlikely to ever need to use again. Such as my freshman college
physics book. I'm unlikely to ever need that again, since I could
look up anything in it on the Internet, and find it faster. But I
have memories attached to that battered old book. Like how I got rid
of a roommate with it once... But I digress.
Even now there are
things that are hard to get rid of, because they might be useful one
day. Like those test tubes that some vanilla beans come it. I mean
come on, I could certainly use those for something. And then there
are all the other books that I'll never have the time or inclination
to read again. But getting rid of them? Nope, can't do it just yet.
If only I could get them all loaded up on my ebook reader, but some
of those books will never be made electronic. And if I had the time
to do it myself, I'd have the time to read them again, now wouldn't
I?
But even if I could
store some of my stuff electronically it's just hanging around on my
hard drive like electronic clutter. I never really look at the
pictures I took of my hike around the trail in the Carpenteria salt
marsh, but I'm not ready to get rid of them either. And there's still
plenty of room on this hard drive.
I was talking to a
man the other day about all kinds of things, and somehow in our
conversation we said (it could have been either of us) that our
thoughts were certainly one thing someone could take from us that
wouldn't leave us any worse off than before they took them.
And that made me
think about the duo “Trout Fishing in America” (which we saw in
Pasadena recently). Years ago they had their van stolen. Of course
it really hurt that after the van was recovered the only thing left
in it were their CDs. And as a writer I keep thinking about what if
someone took my stuff, but left behind the books I'd written...
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