Monday, September 19, 2005

Boone on the North Carolina Trip

While on this search for a new location to live in North Carolina, I wound up in Boone. This is a delightful old town with a lot of new construction going on. My car just happened to find a parking place on the main street in front of a used book shop. My car is an extension of my personality and knows just where I like to go.

I found out, in talking to the gal while she rang up my sales, that there were seven other used book shops in town. They are no longer in business. How sad, the very shops that helped to make the town successful could not afford the rent after a better main street was attained.

This seems to happen too often these days. Especially in small towns that have restored their original main streets, drawing people of taste who shop at malls as little as possible. The absentee landlords and multi-party investors get greedy and hurt the very person who brought success to their investment. Enjoy.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Looking for a New Home in North Carolina

9-17-05
Looking for a New Home in North Carolina

I’ve been planning to re-locate out of New Jersey and into a state south of here. After exploring a few other states, I’ve decided on North Carolina. I invited a friend to join me this past week for the trek from east of I-295 to their incredibly blue mountain range.

Henderson, Oxford and Warrenton are towns that impressed me with their cleanliness. Their neatly-kept and well- landscaped homes indicate the character of the people living in the areas I drove through. An important item, since I’m a stranger without acquaintances in the neighborhoods. The rolling hills of countryside also captured my attention. These are definitely areas to further research.

As much as the mountains grab my very soul, the prices I’ve seen so far are way out of my economic range. But it’s worth the effort to look further.

The people we met are an added reason to settle in NC. Everyone we met were gracious with a cheerful “Hi y’all” for openers. They struck me as sincere, not artificial at all. Again, a reflection of their life here. Unhappy people are rarely gracious or welcoming. This is going to be a challenge to find the right town/county for me to live the next chapter of my life. Enjoy.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Used Books

Used Books
I was late in discovering used bookshops, unfortunately for me. All those wasted years of buying new books, without the imprint of a former owner. It's like buying a new house, a naked house. You have to add window dressings, customize wallpaper, storm/screen windows, fences, landscaping, a garden house, etc. all this places the touch of your character to the house that someone else buys fifty years later. They get the benefit of your living in the house, leaving your character, your imprint of life. Your stories hang in the corners and are tucked under the front porch. All the little things that take a lifetime to leave your touch on.

With used books it's the same. Ever thumb through a book with tiny written notes in the margins? The reader responds intensely to the author. It's a bonus. Read the inscription on the free front endpaper, a script in ink written by someone with a personal thought to be kept forever by its' recipient. A treasure. Sometimes it's an inside peek at a loving relationship. Let your hand glide over the note, feel the emotion lift off the page. Someone cared.

Small, charming Bordentown City, NJ is a town of five used bookshops. I can just wander from one to another, floating on a book 'high.' Half the fun is in the searching. Sitting on the floor flipping through the pages of an old book, out-of-print for the last twenty years. Finding a book signed by the author is a treat even if it isn't a top name known by everyone. It indicates two people that care, the author and the buyer. It's personal. Now, in the used bookshop, a third person benefits from the original purchase. Try it. Enjoy.

First Day Back to High School

Arlene Bice's Blog
Subject: First Day Back to High School
6 September 2005

On my cool, early morning daily walk today, I noticed small groups of high school kids gathered on various bus stop corners throughout Bordentown City. Must be the first day back to school, I thought. It's been a long time since I went to high school. I walked the two miles every school day, stopping at the houses of friends along the way so they could join me. We were excited, anticipating the new kids we would meet, guessing what teachers we would have and what activities we could join. We talked about clothes, movies, music and of course our favorite topic, boys. The first day back to school was always full of adventure.

The kids I saw showed no such emotion. They stood apart from each other, some across the street, heads down. No one was looking at anyone else, including me, walking by. No one spoke. Silence permeated the air. As I approached the fourth bus stop with three boys glumly waiting on the corner, one withdrawn behind earphones, and five girls across the street, two who actually appeared to be speaking to each other, I boldly spoke up.

"Well, I see everyone is happy to be going back to school."

One girl, standing alone, chuckled to herself. The rest ignored me completely. Sad. Enjoy.