>…I’m reading second hand books.

I know, that didn’t rhyme. I do buy second hand clothes, but that’s not what I was doing tonight. After supper (chicken in the crockpot, mmm) and after I had settled the tired husband and teen and separated the tussling bunnies, I went out to pick up contact lense solution and a big bag of paperbacks. I bought a couple mysteries, a few novels, and one young adult sci-fi book for my classroom collection. Okay, maybe I bought more than a few novels. I spent (gulp) $24 at the bookstore, after she deducted my discount for the books I brought back to resell. Well, I rationalize this in several ways.
1. I got a lot more for my money than I would have if I’d bought new books.
2. This should hold me for at least a month, if not more.
3. I can contribute a few to our fiction basket in the staff lounge.
4. It’s one of my few guilty pleasures.

This is all about balance. I read newspapers and Time magazine regularly. I read professional books and journals to keep up to date in my field. These are the books that I will read for me alone — books that let me lose myself in a plot, in a setting, in characters that are like me or totally unlike me. These are the books that I will read to relax at night. They’re books that will settle my mind, not get it spinning, right before bed.

Long ago, when we were newlyweds and we lived in a small resort town, I considered opening a shop like the one I visited tonight. Now I consider it as a possible retirement option. I could combine it with a coffeehouse and serve locally baked treats. I could call it Creative Juices or Expressivo and have a theme decor of classical music and/or local art. La Petite’s photography could be displayed and sold. Amigo could work there; he is so friendly and likable, I know he’d be great as greeter or server. He doesn’t drink coffee, but he sure likes people. He could probably suggest good local musicians to play there, too. If I chose a train theme, Husband’s HO scale models could line the walls. I can’t think of a shop name to go with trains: Train of Thought or The Coffee Engine? There must be a better idea somewhere.

Or not. I’m only in my mid-forties, so retirement isn’t in the picture for a long, long time. But I can dream.