Does anyone else have a “spidey-sense” as far as books are concerned?
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I can drive by bookstores without any desire to stop in (believe it or not!) Really, I can; it actually happens frequently.
There are some days, however, that some place is just calling my name.
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Yesterday, it was the grocery store.
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Yes, we were headed there to get a few groceries. In this local supermarket chain, though,
there’s usually a box or small bin of books for sale, to benefit a charity. It is rare to find treasures,
so rare that I don’t usually even go through that far entrance to look.
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Sometimes, though, sometimes I think, ‘I’d better swing by and check the book box.’
Yesterday was one of those times, and there it was, right on top.
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A Junior Deluxe Edition of Gulliver’s Travels, with a lovely dust jacket.
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The only date I can find is 1947. Nice to find a good copy, but it’s much harder to find
a good dust jacket. Score! I picked it up and headed off to shop with my chauffeur-son.
I thought my book rescuing duty was done. Yet the niggling feeling didn’t go away.
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My spidey-sense was still tingling.
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We bought a few grocery items and my son went to the check out area while I detoured by the ladies’ room.
To my surprise, he was still in line when I returned. I had unexpected time,
so I looked in the book box again. Still nothing else there, oh well.
I have been wrong before.
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Since I had a moment, though, I thought that I might as well straighten up the books.
I had to wait for my son anyway. As I did that little task, what do I find in the back corner,
under a few slumped paperback romance novels?
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The Landmark series Betsy Ross book.
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I had to go back to the register again. Both of these 50+ year old books are private copies,
in great condition. I did check this bin a week or two ago and they were not there.
I was lucky to find them… or was I?
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Things like this happen to me all the time. I could have looked in a particular spot a year ago, or last week,
there is no predictable pattern. While I certainly could ALWAYS find something I’d like to buy at a book shop,
this intuition is different. If I have this persistent thought that I’d like to go somewhere specific today,
I usually find something unique, at a very affordable price.
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The books call to me.
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I am always glad when I listen.
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Treasures Found in Unlikely Places