Books.

We are members of our local library friends organization. As members Calvin and I go once a week to help sort recently donated books and get them ready for the monthly sale. When I first volunteered for this job, and was told that I would be assigned one day each week while other volunteers covered the remaining days, I couldn't imagine there would be enough books to keep us all busy. As it turns out there are enough books donated that I have yet to arrive and have nothing to sort. There is always at least one grocery back full of books, but more often we find four or five times that. I love being surrounded by the books. I love touching them, smelling them, and leafing through them. Calvin is rarely bored, either, especially since children's books make up the bulk of most donations.

Last Friday we were there sorting the handful of books we found on our arrival when one of the librarians came down to let us know that 16 bags of books had just been dropped off, music to my ears. Even better, this kindly patron had great taste and left us sorting through a real treasury of books, many of them from the 1950s and 60s. Possibly the best part was that two bags of these were not sellable by friends standards because they had that musty smell, and a few other undesirable traits, so I brought them home and sorted them here. Did you know that kitty litter will take that musty smell out of books? Just leave them in a sealed storage container with an inch or two of kitty litter in the bottom for a few days, sometimes longer. I owe my Godmother for that advice; it has served me well and we are now about ten 1960s treasures heavier on our bookshelves.

We find books irresistible.