Analog Book Shopping

"Confined in the dark, narrow cage of our own making which we take for the whole universe, very few of us can even begin to imagine another dimension of reality."
— Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, p. 42



April 2009

Stopped at Longfellow Books on the way to the office. Had my birthday card from them worth 25% off a single title. Headed straight for the Buddhism shelf where all the Pema Chodron books are face out, thinking I might pick up another one.

Someone I've never met, in wheel chair facing the other direction, volunteers, “Let me know if you need me to move. I can’t drive and read at the same time.” I said no problem. He immediately offered: “I love to read. I feel sorry for people who can’t read.” He asked me what I like to read. We chatted for a bit. He was cheery and friendly.

What I bought: a Portland architecture book for my mother. The Year of Living Bibically. A children’s book that won the Caldicott. Wild Braid:A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden , by Stanley Kunitz.