The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Well, one of mine anyway. I was sitting in a local Barnes and Noble killing time before meeting some friends for dinner, reading the Knitting for Peace book I would be splurging on, when someone caught my eye browsing the Crafts shelving ahead of me. It was a woman who had clearly been enjoying her retirement years for likely as long as I've been looking forward to my own. She wasn't wearing a kooky hat and her pants weren't swiveled askance. Rather, it was what she was toting that drew my attention. She was cruising the bookstore with a collapsible shopping basket on wheels.

My first thought was, "Now that's the way to go about increasing your home library!" Since grad school is over, I have lost my ability to justify spending hundreds of dollars on books in one blow every few months. In fact, I've relegated myself to bimonthly trips to the library to keep my literary coffers stocked. Ironically, the size of my neighborhood library is about 1/4 the size of the Barnes and Noble I was sitting in, and I could likely read through its collection in about three years of concerted effort. Thank goodness for Interlibrary Loan programs.

Now, however, thanks to this lovely pensioner and her mobile shopping basket, I have a new dream. One day, I too will buy books by the wheely basket load.