Book Corner

"It is always the simple that produces the marvelous."
-Amelia E. Barr

I spent four hours in Barnes and Noble the other afternoon. I purchased nothing, and enjoyed the occasion particularly for the fact that I sat quietly and wrote my thoughts ensconced in a fresh environment. I do not at all like the taste of coffee but the pervading scent pleases me and I passed the time in the cafeteria watching other customers and garnering fresh ideas.
We spent ten minutes in our local library on Saturday afternoon. Half of that was spent rooting through the shelf of books designated for sale.
I unearthed 'What Have You Lost?' an anthology of poetry edited by Naomi Shihab Nye, whose words I greatly admire and whose books are precious in both the hard-to-find sense as well as in their content.
Shortly after that discovery, 'Under the Greenwood Tree,' one of the few Thomas Hardy books I do not have, came tumbling out into my hands.
They each cost fifty cents.

From 'Autumn Quince' by Jane Hirshfield; found in 'What Have You Lost?'
How sad they are,
they promises we never return to.

Here, the opening line of 'Under the Greenwood Tree' by Thomas Hardy:
To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature.

Ten minutes, one dollar, two volumes to gladden my heart and lighten my step as Spouse and I later walked to the nearby park for the first time in four months. The delightful pleasure extended its arms far beyond the brief moments of seeking and finding and buying, which is, for me, what book hunting, or any sort of shopping, should be all about.
I could never, never have had that same sort of joy in a new bookstore no matter how much money jingled in my pockets or how fat my wallet was.