Mayday 34°35'S 150°36'E

Imuroin makuuhuoneen. Valmisteluihin kuuluu kirjapinojen poistaminen lattialta sängyn molemmin puolin. Omalta puolelta laskin 22 kirjaa, joista neljä luettua, seitsemän lukematonta ja 11 kirjaa jollakin lailla kesken, luettavana tai selailtavana. Monet niistä monen kuukauden pölykerroksen alla mutta yhä toiveikkaina odottamassa vuoroaan.

Sitä aina ihmettelee ihmisten siistiä elämää, kun haastatteluissa kysellään yöpöydällä lojuvaa kirjaa. Aina löytyy vastaus kuin apteekin hyllyltä. Vai liekö se toimittajien kaunistelua.

Päivitys (tajusin että kummitäti ja anoppi kukaties lukevat)! Siis kyllä meillä sentään imuroidaan useamman kerran kuukaudessa. Mutta tuolla yöpöydän uumenissa ne kirjat pölyttyvät.

In order to vacuum the bedroom, one has to make an extensive inventory of books and magazines on, next to and under the bed. Or at least move them around a bit in order to get rid of the ones that will never, ever be read and the ones that can go in the recycling bin. This time, on my side of the bed, there were 22 books. Four of them I had read, seven of them were unopened and 11 of them had at some stage been browsed or partly read.

Many of them have several months worth of dust piled up on them but they still look very hopeful, expecting to be picked up any time and read with great passion. I seem to have lost any attention span I ever had.

In magazines they often ask interviewees, which book they have on their bedside table. In this household such a question seems like a weird, theoretical construction.

Update! We do vacuum more often than once in three months. It is deep inside the shelf of the night table that the books sometimes gather thicker layers of dust. (Phew. I just realised you might get the wrong impression, Marjorie.)