The only library book that I never returned at all was The Essential Rilke. When I lived at my first house, I found it between the cushions of an arm chair. I had already paid the replacement fee, so I pretended that the book wanted to stay with me.

Since I never took any pictures of my old house, there are a handful of objects and sounds that I have that are charged with memories:

-a sloppy Christmas window decoration

-my Black Snake Moan poster

-student artwork from my very first class at Mt. Washington Elementary.

-hissing radiators