Q.E.D.

I'm working on a longer post (actually, three or four of them), but meanwhile an interesting thing just happened.  With books again, of course.

I was out in the garage, going through a long-neglected box of books that showed signs of having been examined by squirrels.  At any rate, I found two proofs of decluttering truths:

1.  If you keep it because you might need it later, you'll never find it if you do need it.  I had no clue when I took that online Latin course about five years ago that I actually owned a copy of the book we needed!  Gnawed by rodents now, of course.

2.  What you really need is easily accessible when you need it.  Of course, I was able to borrow the Latin text from our local library system.  And in the same squirrel-nest box of books, I found my copy of The Chosen, which I had just borrowed from the library and reread after many years.  (I mean just - I finished it yesterday.  It's still wonderful.)  It didn't matter that I "owned" a copy in my garage - when I needed to read Chaim Potok's first novel, I found I "owned" many copies at Homewood Public Library.  Which showed no signs of interest from furry creatures (at least, not nonhuman ones).

The moral?  What do you think?