Blazing new trails

5/11/10 Backpacking manual & other hiking related papers, recycled

Here's a downsizing tip: get rid of your bookcases.

When a bookcases goes out the door, you are immediately forced to deal with everything that was on it. Trust me, there's a lot of stuff on it.

Auntie Karen and Cousin Maryjean took two of our bookcases yesterday, leaving me with a pile of books and other assorted items. It just so happened that one of the shelves was my designated Sports and Hiking Books area.

I've culled a lot of books this year, but I remain devoted to my fine hiking collection, so I knew there wouldn't be much in the pile that I wanted to get rid of. However, I did find a number of hiking articles, old maps, and freebie booklets that were foolish to save in the first place. I also realized I still had my old college outing club manual, even though I also had a newer edition on the same shelf.

As an added bonus, I also began the process of packing up all those outdoor books I want to keep for the trek out west. Despite all the downsizing, I better keep most of those books -- I hear there's some good hiking out in Colorado.