Non-Celibate Monastic life in Burlington

I was just speaking with Jeff, our radiant heat guy and he asked me if I could really go without many closets. I am past the age and body type where buying clothes are any fun. That activity has sort of gone out the same window the fascination with mirrors did. So yes, I can go without alot of closets since I've worked out a basic uniform that works well for me. We had the usual discussion about Gandhi. At his death, he had a prayer bowl, loin cloth and spectacles. I didn't tell Jeff that although I'm tossing out clothes, towels, Tupperware and furniture right and left, I'm less sanguine about getting rid of my books. I've managed to cull about 5% of them, and Pat is fine with that. He just knows that part of his interior work once we've moved in, is the hallway bookshelf for starters. So, I'm ready to give up clothes but not books which sort of fits into the monastic title of this blog, because as you know, monasteries were among the first libraries.

The other monastic angle is in the windows. Clerestory window is derived from Clear Story, which was a common type of window in churches. I think it was also used in monasteries to let in light, and I'm thinking kept the Monks on task without that daydreaming common to most people stuck in a room doing busy work with large picture windows beckoning them to the world beyond.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerestory