Books. My mind has been on books for a while now. Our house is full of books. Old books, new books. They fill all the bookshelf space, and are stacked on tables and chairs, and on the counter in my office. Sometimes the floor as well. From time to time we talk about sorting through and culling out quite a few of them. But every time I look at some of the books that have been gathering dust on the shelves, I open one, and find my underlining and starring, I realize that although I can't remember a lot of what is in them, they are - and have been - friends for a long time. How can I 'throw out' old friends. So I put it off again.
My children gave me books for Father's Day. I've already read one of them - a really neat 'duo-bio' by Martin Sheen and his sone Emilio. I'm in the middle of a history of the Hatfield-McCoy fued in the Ozark mountains, and I've just started a book on predictions for the next forty years. Of course, I am seduced away from these last two by a mystery book by Jo Nesbo, a Swedish author I recently discovered, who writes a mean thriller about his hero, the alcoholic super-sleuth Harry Hole.
The whol book thing came to mind on Sunday as I was driving back from Red Deer. Stewart MacLean was going on about his favorite bookstotres in Canada. That got me thinking about mine. Pages in Calgary, Greenwoods in Edmonton, The Banyen Tree in Vancouver, where Vincent and I spent many a quiet afternoon, roaming around together. My fondest favorite is Robinson McNally's flagship store in the Grant Park Mall in Winnipeg. That store was the first big-box bookstore in Canada, even earlier than Chapters or Indigo.
I have fond memories of Robinson McNally for another reason as well. In 1983, when they were just starting, they had a small bookstore near Kenaston, in west River Heights. I was newly separated, and rootless. For months, I spent every Sunday afternoon in that store, browsing and reading. I got to know Holly McNally, and we talked some. That place was a godsend to me, and will always be my favorite of all bookstores.
I'm at the point where i need my glasses prescription redone and probaby need new glasses. I know this because sometimes when I am reading relatively small print (and that print gets larger each year), I have trouble reading it. I reflect on what it would be like not to be able to see. I couldn't read. That would be…difficult. Oh, of course I could listen to Morgan Freeman's voice telling me many of the stories I would read. And while that would be pleasurable, it wouldn't be the same as readig myself.
Not often enough am I grateful for sight, simple sight, the ability to read and see things as they are. Tonight, I am grateful, and ready to read some more before bed. So…goodnight.
My children gave me books for Father's Day. I've already read one of them - a really neat 'duo-bio' by Martin Sheen and his sone Emilio. I'm in the middle of a history of the Hatfield-McCoy fued in the Ozark mountains, and I've just started a book on predictions for the next forty years. Of course, I am seduced away from these last two by a mystery book by Jo Nesbo, a Swedish author I recently discovered, who writes a mean thriller about his hero, the alcoholic super-sleuth Harry Hole.
The whol book thing came to mind on Sunday as I was driving back from Red Deer. Stewart MacLean was going on about his favorite bookstotres in Canada. That got me thinking about mine. Pages in Calgary, Greenwoods in Edmonton, The Banyen Tree in Vancouver, where Vincent and I spent many a quiet afternoon, roaming around together. My fondest favorite is Robinson McNally's flagship store in the Grant Park Mall in Winnipeg. That store was the first big-box bookstore in Canada, even earlier than Chapters or Indigo.
I have fond memories of Robinson McNally for another reason as well. In 1983, when they were just starting, they had a small bookstore near Kenaston, in west River Heights. I was newly separated, and rootless. For months, I spent every Sunday afternoon in that store, browsing and reading. I got to know Holly McNally, and we talked some. That place was a godsend to me, and will always be my favorite of all bookstores.
I'm at the point where i need my glasses prescription redone and probaby need new glasses. I know this because sometimes when I am reading relatively small print (and that print gets larger each year), I have trouble reading it. I reflect on what it would be like not to be able to see. I couldn't read. That would be…difficult. Oh, of course I could listen to Morgan Freeman's voice telling me many of the stories I would read. And while that would be pleasurable, it wouldn't be the same as readig myself.
Not often enough am I grateful for sight, simple sight, the ability to read and see things as they are. Tonight, I am grateful, and ready to read some more before bed. So…goodnight.
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