A very cool bookstore on a very hot day!

Dutch scholar, Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536). He said, “When I get a little money, I buy books, and then if there is any left over, I buy food and clothing.”

Hubby took me out for my errands today while on his lunch. I went through my stocks for tomorrow's baking frenzy (I have a baby shower on Friday to cater) and realized I never keep 6lbs of powdered sugar in my larder and it was time to go to Publix.
After doing the marketing we decided to go to another store, a bookstore!
Now, my favorite store, Barnes and Noble on Sam Rittenburg was flooded out on Sunday night and half of the store is covered with plastic wrap! So we went to BAM a little further down the road.

So, first, let’s talk about how nice it is to walk into a store where you don’t have to try to decide what to buy for dinner or buy clothes that you really don't need. No thank you! For me, I’ll choose a quick pick-me-up at Barnes & Noble or Books A Million.

Next, have you ever truly smelled a bookstore? That mixture of crispy newness that wafts through the vents from those freshly printed books mingled with the flowery perfume lofting up from the magazine racks and just for kicks, throw in a good dose of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods and you have such a hypnotic concoction that I’d love to bottle it and take it home with me. I think they pipe it into the vent just like movie theaters do with popcorn.

Once I’ve had a nice lingering whiff, I open my eyes and stare openly at the possibilities! Where else can you walk into a store and feel instantly brighter, or uplifted, or smarter, or inspired? All around there are shelves and shelves of opportunities to heighten your knowledge, live happier, be more connected, become a better person, or just read a fantastically good story. And the moment you load up with anything from the shelves there’s that antsy anticipatory feeling about what you’ll learn, where you’ll go and whom you’ll visit.

I haven’t even mentioned yet the amazing fact that within those humbled walls are contained the greatest minds of all time! You’ve got Plato, Socrates and Homer. There’s Einstein, Edison and Curie. Over here we have Roosevelt (both Franklin and Eleanor) Lincoln and King next to Churchill, Gandhi and Lenin. Down by that last rack we’ve got Tolstoy, Salinger, Austin, and Vonnegut. And over there’s Tolkien, Rowling, Dickens and Seuss and the lists go on, and on, and on until you’re dizzy with the enormity of knowledge, talent and genius!

And I know that for any of you who have ever entertained the idea about where you would go if you knew that the world might end tomorrow, and most, I know, would head toward the nearest bomb shelter, basement or cave, but for me? Yeah, well I think I’ll head to the bookstore, if I am going to die then I am going to put my head on my husbands tummy while reading Zimmer-Bradley and go with a smile on my face!

For now, however, I’m content to enjoy and be inspired by Stephen Lawhead, James Patterson and Diane L. Paxton. But I want to encourage the rest of you to take a day soon to venture out into that world of possibilities and get lost in the endorphins at your local bookstore.