I managed to get most of my things out of boxes. It was more difficult than the packing portion because it seems to have increased in size while stored away. Stored boxes, like luggage while traveling, seem to be the Tribbles of modern society. Luckily, I labeled every box. Even with the labeling system, I was surprised by what I had packed. The several months I had been away from my things was long enough to forget some of them. There were lingering breaks involved which I spent distracted by flipping through my college photo album, pictures of my trip to Ireland from all those years ago, and placing all of my books back on the shelves.

Putting the books away took a bit longer than expected. I spent some of the time dividing them by category—and alphabetizing them by author. Guest room is non-fiction, religion, equine reference, and my Mark Twain collection. The sitting room is fiction, poetry, foreign language, music reference, and antique books. Kitchen is cooking, of course. The living room contains personal work, research, and general reference. Then there’s my room, which houses three gilded volumes: the complete works of William Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling and Guy du Maupassant. Laugh all you want, but now was the time to get it done. One of my friends noted it wasn’t as much a house but a library that looked like a house. Yes. I agree.

Books reside in every room except the bathrooms. I believe keeping books and magazines in the bathroom is disgusting. My mother would disagree with me. Most of my apprehension involves the thought of germs, a small portion is the extra humidity, and the last is time spent in the bathroom.

Paper and water don’t mix. Period. Damp paper never dries right. Pages ripple and stick together, and there’s the mildew. I would say that’s gross by itself, but here’s what truly grosses me out: no one needs to spend that much time on the toilet.

If you are one of those individuals who takes reading materials with you, maybe you need to see a doctor. It can indicate, at the least, you have gastro-intestinal issues. Don’t start debating with me it’s your private time, or it’s a “retreat”. There are work retreats and military retreats. I don’t want to spend time doing either, and I’m not going to refer to my bathroom as one. It is a lavatory, bathing room, toilet, water closet, etc. Whatever your terminology, “retreat” does not qualify. Get out of your bathroom, and please, keep my reading material out of it.