Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#7)
Lately I've been feeling that my house is full of too much stuff...and much of the stuff are things I rarely use. So in one more way of trying to simplify my life I've been attempting to purge my house of unused stuff. I am by no means a pack-rat, but my vice is books...I've gotten better at it over the years (meaning I'll purchase only books that I know I'll read), but there was a time when I would purchase a book (usually used) and know that I may never get to reading it. At any rate, my weekend project was to cull my collection for books that I no longer desired to own, and I came up with six full boxes. And rather than simply discarding them, I thought I'd donate them to my local used book store. The irony is that some of the books I donated were actually purchased there...they made a round trip.
Initially, after I packed the books in their boxes and seeing how many there were I thought I'd load them into the back of my small pickup to deliver them. But then as I stood there looking at the boxes I began to picture how I could load them onto the Yuba Mundo (and I really wanted to deliver them by bike). What the hell, I thought, my neighbors probably think I'm a little nuts already, and it is only two city blocks.
I've carried heavier loads on the Yuba, and I've carried bulkier loads; I've even carried more awkward loads. But none thus far met all of those categories: it was bulky, heavy, and awkward. And I've come to this conclusion: when you pack a lot of books together and carry them all at once they are heavy, really heavy.
In the short distance I went I received three comments (the comments and stares you receive when hauling stuff by bike is worth the effort alone). One was from a guy on my street who when I nodded to him, his only response was, "that's a sturdy bike." A woman on Allen Street as I rounded a corner, "that is one big-ass bike." But the best was from the book store owner when she helped me carry the books in, "that is really excellent that you delivered these by bike." Thanks, I said, I thought so too. In the last month I think I have moved my vehicle maybe 5 times...and 3 of them were to move it from one side of the street to the other when the parking days changed.
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