Clearing 30 years-worth of stuff… it’s hard to let things go, even something like a beat-up copy of ‘The Circular Staircase,’ a 1908 mystery by Mary Roberts Rinehart. The book makes me smile… with its chapter headings ‘An Eggnog and a Telegram,’ ‘A Tramp and the Toothache’ and ‘When Churchyards Yawn.’ Then there are etchings of characters in Victorian dress and of candle-lit rooms (electricity was still new). My favourite is of a young couple embracing over the caption, “There is no use mincing matters – he was kissing her.” Quite racy for the time. So nope, I’m keeping it.